Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund gave out $407,250 in grants last year. It means the average payout was around $1,500

Jay-Z may be the wealthiest man in hip-hop but the beneficiaries of his scholarship fund are getting a pittance by comparison.

The rapper's Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund gave out $407,250 in grants last year to 255 students according to the New York Post.

It means the average payout was around $1,500 and barely enough to even cover books required for studying, let alone the costs of lodging.

The awards apparently ranged from $1,000 to $2,500 each.

The organization which is overseen by Jay-Z's mother Gloria Carter took in $742,118 in donations in 2017.

The majority of the money came from Empire State of Mind singer, according to Dania Diaz, the group's executive director.

The money is paid directly to the colleges of scholarship recipients.

The biggest chunk, $32,000, went to Virginia State University to help an undisclosed number of students.

'By removing some of the financial burdens associated with going to, surviving in, and graduating from college, the [Shawn Carter Foundation] plays a vital role in increasing college access and success for many motivated yet underserved youth and young adults,' reads the foundation's scholarship website.

But the money wont have gone very far with tuition and total costs at the school for one year alone topping out at $20,284.

Diaz told the Post that the money made a difference to students who are able to get grants for six years if they reapply.

Jay-Z and wife Beyonce ended up dishing out a further 10 scholarships of $100,000 each during their On The Road II tour

'The foundation's goal is to reach as many students as possible. It's really about breadth in reaching a lot of students,' she said.

In addition to the scholarships the organization also runs a bus tour to historically black colleges and universities, which cost it $44,581 last year charging students $200 for the trip.

An annual toy giveaway at the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn where the rapper grew up cost almost $8,500 to host.

LeBron James has also set up a school which is a partnership between the LeBron James Family foundation and the Akron Public School and is designed to serve Akron's most challenged students

The numbers are small-fry compared to Jay-Z's estimated 2018 earnings of $76.5 million with much of the revenue coming from the tour for his 2017 album 4:44.

Both Jay-Z and wife Beyonce ended up dishing out a further 10 scholarships of $100,000 each during their On The Road II tour. That cash will be doled out in 2019.

The hip-hop star is not the only high profile celebrity to help dish out cash to help educate students.

Basketball star LeBron James has also been committed to helping kids in his hometown through a variety of educational programs and teamed up with Akron public schools to open the 'I Promise School' dedicated to aiding at-risk children who might otherwise be left behind.

The school, which will be backed by James' family foundation, will open in the fall of 2018 and focus on children in third and fourth grades. By 2022, the school will expand to accommodate students in grades one through eight.

James grew up in a single-parent home raised by his mother, Gloria, who was helped by other families in raising her now-famous son.

James has previously partnered with the University of Akron to provide a guaranteed four-year scholarship to the school for students in his program who qualify.