University of Maryland alum pledges $1 million to veterans scholarship

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - A University of Maryland alum has pledged $1 million to help the school's veterans.

Bruce Richards and his wife Avis, class of 1980, donated the money to provide scholarships to veteran students at the school. To date, it is the largest gift in support of student veterans at the University of Maryland.

Although the Post 9/11 GI Bill has provided more than $30 billion in educational funding to veterans, there was a funding gap of around $6,000 per student on average at the university last year. A total of 111 veterans' needs went unmet.

The goal of the Richards' fund is to help fill that gap by supporting tuition, room and board, and other related expenses for veterans pursuing high education.

The Richards have also started a fundraising challenge for veterans' education, called the "Veterans' Education $1 Million Matching Challenge."

Every dollar donated between Veterans Day 2015 and 2016 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Richards, up to $1 million total.