The University of St. Thomas has received a $20 million donation for student scholarships, intended to defray some of the cost of a new two-year, on-campus housing requirement.

The gift from the estate of 1959 graduate Irvin Kanthak will provide 30 undergraduate students with four-year scholarships — $10,000 per year for the first two years, when students are required to live on campus, and $5,000 per year for the next two years of schooling.

University President Julie Sullivan said the university will also use $50,000 per year from the Kanthak fund to assist students “who face unexpected life experiences,” according to the university news office.

In addition, a first of its kind alumni referral scholarship is intended to attract out-of-state students with financial needs through the school’s alumni network.

The Kanthak Scholars Program was announced by Sullivan during the annual state of the university address on Thursday.

Kanthak, who died last March at 86, grew up in rural Minnesota, served in the U.S. Air Force and later graduated from St. Thomas on the G.I. Bill, a 1940s and 1950s-era federal program that helped pay the tuition of military veterans.

According to his obituary, Kanthak, who was known for solving difficult mathematical calculations in his head without pen or paper, moved to Los Angeles after graduation and worked odd jobs to fund his first real estate acquisition — an apartment building.

From there he built a real estate company. He is buried at St. James Catholic Cemetery in Nassau, Minn.

MORE ON-CAMPUS HOUSING

Last April, St. Thomas announced that a new two-year residency requirement would begin in the fall of 2021.

Already, some 92 percent of freshmen and 45 percent of sophomores live on campus, numbers that continue to drop precipitously for third and fourth-year students.

In announcing the requirement last year, the university said the goal was to increase engagement in campus life, as well as access to student support services.

The university has also been under pressure from homeowners in the surrounding neighborhood, who have complained of raucous parties and off-campus student behavior, as well as the demolition of single-family homes for construction of pricey, privately owned student apartments.

To accommodate the uptick, the university is in the process of building two new on-campus dormitories and renovating several others.

Al Cotrone, the school’s vice president for enrollment, said the 30 scholarships will go to students will demonstrated financial need.

“We’re hoping that it’ll help tremendously,” he said.

St. Thomas also has begun to include measures of a family’s financial position when deciding how much to include in a student’s financial aid package, he said.