Atlanta’s Clark Atlanta University announced Friday that it would eliminate student account balances from the past five semesters, joining a historically growing group of black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that have moved to pay off student debt in the United States. last months.
Dr George French, president of the university, said on Friday that the last two years have been “emotionally and financially difficult for students and their families due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“That is why we will continue to do everything we can to support your efforts to complete your education at CAU,” French said in a statement.
“We care about students and want to lighten individual and family finances burden so that they can continue their journey in pursuit and achievement of their educational and career goals,” he added.
The school said that federal funding it has received from the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund has enabled it to provide financial assistance for students for the past two years.
That fund was created when the CARES Act, a wide-ranging COVID-19 relief package, became law last year.
In April, the US Department of Education said that between the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan, HBCUs would receive $ 5 billion from the Emergency Assistance Fund for Higher Education.
Clark Atlanta University is now one of several HBCUs that recently announced that it would help eliminate student loan debt in the wake of the pandemic.
Earlier this month, South Carolina State University said it would eliminate $ 9.8 million of student debt for “more than 2,500 continuing students. ”
“We are committed to providing these students with a clear path forward so that they can continue their college education and graduate without the burden of financial debt caused by circumstances beyond their control,” stated interim university president Alexander Conyers.
Delaware State University said in May it would cancel more than $ 700,000 loans for recent graduates, CNN reported, and Shaw University in North Carolina said it would cover summer tuition for more than 400 students, according to WNCN.
As a surprise to its graduating class, administrators at Wilberforce University in Ohio announced at the graduation ceremony this year that it would eliminate student debt owed between 2020 and 2021.
At the end of the event, the school president told the students that their accounts were not. This is a brief summary.
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