Olivia Rodrigo has earned a good samaritan badge by helping a University of Alabama student pay her final semester’s tuition.
TikTok user Jamie Causey posted a video sharing that she had just earned her Bachelor’s degree in public relations, with a minor in digital, public and professional writing - all thanks to Rodrigo.
Causey explains that Rodrigo had initially reached out and commented on a happy birthday video she had posted. Following another video in which Causey spoke about the struggles of being a first-generation college student trying to pay the tuition of her final semester, Rodrigo messaged her.
“She told me she loved my videos and I was a source of positivity and light for her, and she wanted to help me graduate,” Causey says. “And she did.”
Causey revealed the DM from Rodrigo, in which the pop star wrote, “I watched ur last vid about tuition and I’d love to help out if you were open at all to that? So cool that you are so close to graduating! Do you have a Venmo I could send to?”
She then shared a follow-up message from Rodrigo’s rep from April 2025 that confirmed the singer had sent her $5,000 (USD) toward her studies.
“Olivia, I don’t know if you’ll ever understand how much that means to me,” Causey says in the new video. “You made me feel like I belong on this platform. You didn’t owe me anything. You just chose to show kindness to a stranger. You’ve always been about giving back to others, and that’s something I’ll take with me forever.”
Causey says she hadn’t told anybody about Rodrigo’s generosity, “not because I wasn’t grateful, but because I didn’t want something that meant so much to become a public spectacle.”
She also thanked others who have helped her out along the way, including socialite Paris Hilton, adding that it never hurts to pay it forward.
“Send the message, pay for the coffee, pay for the car behind you or just smile at someone,” Causey says. “You never know the difference it will make.”
Watch the video below.