When President Gordon B. Hinckley announced the creation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Perpetual Education Fund during the April 2001 general conference, he said the plan was “inspired by the Lord.”
He also called it a “bold initiative.”
“But we believe in the need for it and in the success that it will enjoy,” he said. “Where there is widespread poverty among our people, we must do all we can to help them to lift themselves, to establish their lives upon a foundation of self-reliance that can come of training. Education is the key to opportunity.”
Now 25 years later, the Perpetual Education Fund has helped 130,000 Latter-day Saint students outside the United States and Canada with financial aid for education.
Perpetual Education Fund loans and scholarships have been used in more than 80 countries, with 88% of graduates reporting they found better work after completing their education, according to a news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Once loans are paid off — with little interest — the money is used as a revolving resource for other students. A similar concept was used to lend money to early Church members for their emigration to the Salt Lake Valley — the Perpetual Emigration Fund.
Success stories
Nahun Antonio García Pérez of Honduras has benefited from the Perpetual Education Fund. He was able to complete his education, become an industrial engineer and improve his family’s economic stability.
Pérez said the Perpetual Education Fund is “inspired by God and can be of great benefit in our temporal and spiritual life.”
Pérez credits the funding for helping him gain professional recognition, secure better career opportunities and improve his family’s quality of life.
“Undertaking higher education has not been easy at all, but I feel the satisfaction of having achieved something I set out to do,” Pérez said.
Another former beneficiary, Selemani Furaya of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, became a laboratory technician after completing her university studies.
She works at Kinsuka Hospital and credits the Perpetual Education Fund for the opportunity to get an education, along with the skills and confidence to build a better future for herself.
“This program helped me achieve my goals, and I’m incredibly grateful,” Furaya said. “It has made me self-reliant and allows me to serve my fellow beings. I’m so grateful to my Heavenly Father for inspiring our Prophet to implement this program to help members of the Church.”
Looking back at 25 years
The Perpetual Education Fund first launched in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Peru. It is currently available to students in 76 countries.
The Church updated the program in November 2024 with enhancements, including a broader choice of schools and programs, more options for reducing loan balances and support for education-related expenses.
Elder John K. Carmack, now a 94-year-old emeritus General Authority Seventy who was called by the Prophet to lead the program for its first 11 years, said President Hinckley would call him in the beginning stages and tell him, “You’ve got to get this going.”
“He was a pusher,” Elder Carmack recalled. “He was pushing me.”
Elder Carmack called President Hinckley’s idea for the Perpetual Education Fund “amazing and beautiful.”
“He wanted the young people, especially out in the world who didn’t have opportunities, to get education,” Elder Carmack said. “And he wanted the education to be practical. He wanted it to be the type of thing that would lead to jobs.”
Elder Carmack said the fruits of the funds are a miracle.
“Many who received education from the fund and the push that it gave them in life became our leaders — ward and stake leaders, stake presidents and others,” he said. “They were trained with the help of the Perpetual Education Fund. It was quite amazing.”
Elder Carmack recalled one of the last meetings President Hinckley attended, in January 2008. He still remembers the Prophet’s words, spoken with deep emotion: “This program has been a miracle. It has really done what I hoped it would do.”
Elder Carmack said he never questioned the inspired nature of the Perpetual Education Fund.
Trent Jacobson, manager of the Perpetual Education Fund, said self-reliance will remain the focus into the future.
Self-reliance resources
The Perpetual Education Fund is available to Church members ages 18 and older in approved countries. Those who are interested in learning more can speak with their ward or stake welfare and self-reliance specialist and visit PEF.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The Church also provides free self-reliance classes such as Find a Better Job and Education for Better Work that give resources and teach skills in a group setting with a gospel perspective. In addition, the Church has free Employment Services resources for anyone, regardless of Church membership, found online at employment.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
