Key Points
- Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton, Jay-Z's longtime engineer and touring DJ, is personally funding a full-tuition, four-year scholarship at the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment at Long Island University.
- The scholarship covers complete tuition for a Fall 2026 enrollee, plus year-long mentorship and one-on-one studio time in the school's Dolby Atmos facility.
- Applications close July 17, 2026; candidates must submit a written essay or three-minute video answering questions about their definition of success, how the scholarship will shape them, and where they see themselves in 10 years.
- The announcement comes a year after the Roc Nation School faced backlash when students who were promised "debt-free" graduations reported owing $5,000 to $39,000 in unexpected fees.
Young Guru is putting his own money behind the pipeline he's been building since he joined the Roc Nation School in 2022. Jay-Z's engineer of 25 years — the person behind nearly every Jay-Z recording since The Dynasty: Roc La Familia in 2000 and his touring DJ since 2010 — is personally sponsoring a full-tuition, four-year scholarship for one student entering the school's Music Technology, Entrepreneurship & Production program this fall.
"Education and mentorship have always been at the heart of everything I do," Young Guru said. "This scholarship is about creating opportunities for the next generation."
What the Scholarship Covers
The award goes beyond tuition waivers. The recipient gets four years of full tuition at LIU, a year-long mentorship where they shadow Young Guru directly, and one-on-one studio sessions in the school's professional Dolby Atmos-enabled studio — a facility that includes four isolation booths, a control room, and a live room. The winner also enters the Dean's Scholars Program, a networking track designed to place students inside industry relationships before they graduate.
This is Young Guru's second personal scholarship at the school; he funded one in 2022, the same year he was named Director of the Music Technology, Entrepreneurship & Production program. The school, which enrolled its first class in Fall 2021 in Brooklyn, currently serves approximately 300 students across six bachelor of arts programs.
How to Apply
Applications are open now through 11:59 p.m. ET on July 17, 2026. Prospective students can apply at apply.liu.edu/rn or through the link in the @rocnation_school Instagram bio. Applicants must submit either a written essay or a video presentation of no more than three minutes answering three questions: How do you define success? How will the Young Guru scholarship help you be the best version of yourself? Where do you see yourself in 10 years, and how will you get there?
The Institutional Context
The scholarship lands at a moment when the Roc Nation School's institutional credibility is still recovering. In 2025, at least a dozen graduating students reported being blindsided by $5,000 to $39,000 in debt despite what they understood to be a promise of debt-free graduation. LIU had changed language on its website from "debt-free" to "tuition-free" in 2023, a distinction the university said students should have understood. The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection opened an investigation in May 2025 following the reports. Students also criticized the gap between the school's marketing — which advertised celebrity guest speakers like Rihanna and DJ Khaled — and the reality of the program.
Young Guru's scholarship operates outside that institutional framework. It is personally funded, covers tuition explicitly, and comes with direct mentorship from someone whose credits span a quarter-century of commercial releases. The distinction matters: when the institution's promises came under scrutiny, the individual commitment became the more legible form of support. Whether that dynamic sustains a school serving 300 students is a different question — but for one incoming freshman, the path from application to Dolby Atmos studio to industry is now fully underwritten.
Uristocrat has been following the Roc Nation world — see our report on Roc Nation's citywide Reasonable Doubt celebration.
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