South Carolina State University erases $9.8 million in student debt: It's a 'big blessing'
A university in South Carolina announced that it would erase $9.8 million in student debts, clearing account balances for more than 2,500 students.
South Carolina State University, a historically Black university in Orangeburg, said in a news release last week that the move will provide relief for students “who were previously unable to return to college due to financial hardship caused primarily by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
SC State University Acting President Alexander Conyers said in the release that the school is “committed to providing these students with a clear path forward so they can continue their college education and graduate without the burden of financial debt caused by circumstances beyond their control.”
“No student should have to sit home because they can’t afford to pay their past due debt after having experienced the financial devastation caused by a global pandemic,” he said.
SC State University students lauded the move as a “big blessing,” according to Kevyn Rice, a junior at the school from Spartanburg, South Carolina.
“This gives students a new opportunity at life and at having a successful education,” Rice said in the release. “It helps bring some stability and lets me know I am welcomed at our HBCU.”
Leslie Young, a freshman from Santee, South Carolina, who did not take classes during the spring semester because she was unable to pay her tuition, said the “news brings tears to my eyes.”
“My family is very low income,” she said. “I was in a deep depression because school means everything to me. Without it, I felt like I was giving up on my dreams.”
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The decision to erase the student debts will be funded by nearly $10 million the school received in federal aid.
SC State University is utilizing approximately $4 million in funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and $5.8 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. Both pieces of legislation provided economic relief to Americans, businesses and other organizations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The South Carolina school isn’t the first to cancel debts from students in recent months. Wilberforce University announced last month it would clear more than $375,000 in debt, including fines, fees and other balances paid directly to the school.
This month, the Department of Education canceled $55.6 million in student loan debt for 1,800 students who were victims of for-profit college fraud.