The world’s most subscribed YouTuber and a university president are an odd combination in front of the camera.
MrBeast, an internet personality best known for videos documenting random acts of extreme charity, wears shorts, speaks animatedly and gestures with his hands. East Carolina University President Philip G. Rogers wears a zip-up sweater over a button-up shirt.
The Prime Minister chimed in as MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) explained the growing appeal of YouTube and the difficulty of finding people to collaborate on his videos.
Donaldson joined Rogers in front of the cameras to announce a new partnership with the University of North Carolina Greenville. The program was formed by Mr.Beast staff and aims to support people who want to work in the creative field. This program allows students to earn qualifications related to content creation.
Announced in November 2022, the hope was to launch the program within six to 12 months, according to a news release at the time.
In a video announcement, Donaldson explained that the staff has put “heart and soul” into the course and that the team has assembled “the smartest YouTubers on the planet.”
“We pulled all our resources and all our knowledge and put it into this program,” Donaldson said. “You won’t find a more centralized source of knowledge on how to effectively support YouTubers.”
Almost three years have passed and there is no trace of this program. Neither the Donaldson campaign nor the university have said if or when that will begin.
East Carolina University did not respond to USA TODAY’s questions about the program, instead sending a one-sentence statement.
“We continue to operate within the terms of the agreement that outlines the educational partnership between ECU and MrBeast, LLC,” said Janine Manning Hutson, the university’s chief communications officer.
A statement from MrBeast spokesperson Matthew Hiltzik provided further details, but did not provide a release date.
“While current company leadership and ECU are in ongoing discussions to evaluate the future direction of all programs, Mr.Beast continues to permanently employ hundreds of local residents and hundreds more on a temporary basis on a variety of projects, with a significant impact on the local economy,” Hiltzik’s statement said.
This stalled plan highlights the dangers faced by systematic, bureaucratic institutions, in this case universities, when working with social media influencers who are accustomed to operating according to their own rules and schedules. While the approach has clearly worked well for Donaldson, the university is left answering questions about a program that may never materialize.
What was the MrBeast program supposed to be like?
In the announcement, the university directed potential applicants to creator.ecu.edu, where they can register for updates. Years later, there is still no sign of a certification program. And creator.ecu.edu leads to an invalid web page.
Admittedly, launching an academic program can be a difficult and time-consuming process, and Ms. Donaldson is busy. In addition to his YouTube channel, he runs a burger company, a snack company, and a charity organization. He also stars in Amazon Prime’s show “Beast Games,” where 5,000 contestants compete to win $5 million in a series of games.
A few weeks ago, he was in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the NFL season kickoff, which was streamed on YouTube. He was one of many influencers invited to promote the event, which YouTube announced set a record for “concurrent live stream viewers.”
He has also been sued and faced many negative controversies. Performers who appeared on his show in 2024 filed suit alleging, among other things, that they were subjected to “dangerous conditions and conditions as a condition of employment.” Mr Donaldson said the complaints were disproportionate.
That same year, Donaldson announced that he had hired a law firm to investigate the allegations and the company’s culture after a flood of rumors online. The investigation found “allegations of sexual misconduct between employees and minors, including pedophilia, grooming, and child pornography, are without merit,” according to a letter Donaldson posted online.
“The allegations, including those of the alleged victims, are completely dismissed,” the letter said.
Controversy aside, Donaldson remains the most popular YouTuber in the world, with over 440 million subscribers. Beast Games has already been renewed for a second season. Although some have criticized his charity work as a publicity stunt, many people have benefited from the sudden infusion of cash and medical aid. He and fellow YouTube personality Mark Rober recently helped raise $40 million for WaterAid, an international nonprofit focused on providing clean water around the world.
He has even started talking about running for president, although he admits that at 27 years old he is too young.
Why did MrBeast choose East Carolina University?
East Carolina University has approximately 27,000 students and is the fourth largest university in the state. The university competes in Division I FBS football and touts itself in multiple sections of its website as the only university in the state with “a dental school, a medical school, and a polytechnic school all in the same facility.”
It is also located in Greenville, Donaldson’s hometown and current base of operations. The star has had a colorful relationship with the city. The Washington Post reported that residents have become accustomed to his stunts, videos and outbursts caused by his larger-than-life presence.
MrBeast has proven to be a boon for some on East Carolina’s campus, especially for the school itself. About a year after announcing his content creation course, Donaldson gave $20,000 to a random student, which was presented in a metal briefcase as one of his videos. The university’s press office drafted a press release about the surprise gift, which also reiterated the university’s partnership with Donaldson.
Donaldson’s company will lease East Carolina University facilities starting in 2022, according to a contract obtained through a public records request. His company paid the school $4,000 to rent a truck for two days. In another case, the company agreed to pay $54,000 to set up a temporary clinic to provide hearing aids to people in need.
Donaldson did not graduate from college and did not attend East Carolina University.
He briefly attended Pitt Community College, but dropped out to focus on his YouTube career. Still, others claim to have attended East Carolina University, sometimes including in Google’s AI search results, as the Raleigh News & Observer reported.
What did MrBeast and East Carolina say they would do?
The university has repeatedly said in marketing and social media that ambitious students do not need to be in a four-year program or even be in Greenville to enroll in future programs. In a news release, University Administrator Sharon Painter said the program will allow the school to “offer an alternative pathway to career preparation” and “meet students where they are in the workforce.”
However, the parameters of the program are vague, and it is unclear how it will be developed.
For example, contracts for the use of MrBeast-sponsored facilities and clinics are thick technical documents with concerns about media rights, insurance, and compliance. A hearing aid clinic contract is 10 pages long and specifies precise details such as the number of patients served and the cost of equipment adjustments and related supplies.
In contrast, the agreement between the university and the company MrBeast is a tight two-page deal. And there’s a paragraph-long section explaining the program’s curriculum, stating that universities and companies will work together to develop the curriculum.
The agreement is scheduled to last five years and includes an agreement that ECU and MrBeast will collaborate exclusively on the development of the program and will not develop similar programs without written permission.
While degree programs must undergo rigorous oversight by faculty and administrators, which can take years, non-degree programs do not require the same oversight. By comparison, they should be easy to get off the ground, said Fritz Vandover, a distributed learning program analyst at the University of Minnesota.
Vandover is also the co-host of “Gettin’ Stuff Done in Higher Education,” a podcast focused on the inner workings of universities, and has developed certification programs for universities and the private sector. He said six to 12 months is a typical timeline for certification like the one East Carolina has described. If it goes longer than this, it could face tougher market competition.
That’s because one of the biggest challenges associated with the program is getting the word out, Vandover said. This hurdle is especially high in Internet advertising, where emerging online degree programs must compete with stronger programs, such as Grand Canyon University and Arizona State University. Partnering with Donaldson would address publicity issues while putting the university in charge of academic production.
“Something that’s not obvious is keeping that agreement in place,” Vandover said. “Short-form credentials that do not require a degree typically do not take this long.”
He said the program could have stopped for a variety of reasons. Maybe Donaldson has too little return to be worth it. Or it could be that the university had a hard time finding the resources to create the course. In September, the university announced plans to cut its budget by $25 million over the next three years to address “the changing admissions landscape facing higher education.”
John Katzman, CEO of edtech company Noodle, largely echoed Vandover’s comments, adding that he was surprised the university announced the program without a binding contract. A memorandum of understanding is a non-binding statement of intent, except for exclusivity provisions. When asked what it meant that the two sides did not sign a contract, Mr. Katzman replied in an email: “Maybe MrBeast was busy with something else?”
So what was done? Prospective student Joel Diaz, who signed up to receive more information about the program, shared with USA TODAY a follow-up email he received from the university. It was two paragraphs long and said university staff would keep them updated on progress over the coming months. He also said he would be contacted by the admissions team. Another said he had not received any updates from the university.
As a big fan of YouTube and blogging, Diaz wrote to USA TODAY on social media expressing interest in the program. He added that he knows Donaldson is from the town and “I think he does a lot of good there for the community.”
And while it remains to be seen whether the ECU program actually comes to fruition, Donaldson certainly took his talents to another university.
In 2023, he posted a photo of himself in front of the Harvard Business School sign. He wore blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a loose black sweater that could have come out of Steve Jobs’ closet (though the former Apple CEO favors gray New Balances, and Donaldson wore all-white sneakers).
“I taught a class at Harvard University, which was very interesting because I dropped out of college after only two weeks (laughs).”
Chris Quintana is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at cquintana@usatoday.com or Signal at 202-308-9021. He joins X at @CQuintanaDC
