ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 31: A view of the billboard truck at Clark Atlanta University for #ALLINFORVOTING Get Out The Vote Billboard Campaign on October 31, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images for ALL IN: The Fight for Democracy )
TSR Education: Clark Atlanta University announced it would eliminate students’ account balances from the last five semesters, becoming the latest HBCU to cancel student debt in recent months.
Clark’s President Dr. George French said that the past two years have been “emotionally and financially difficult on students and their families due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to Newsweek.
“That is why we will continue to do all we can to support their efforts to complete their CAU education,” French said in a statement.
“We care about students and want to lighten their individual and family’s financial load so they can continue their journey in pursuing and attaining their educational and professional goals,” French added.
In the news release, CAU said it will use federal funds it has received from the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund to provide financial relief for students over the past two years.
That fund was created when the CARES Act was signed into law last year.
In April, the U.S. Department of Education said HBCUs would receive $5 billion from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.
CAU now joins several HBCUs that have made plans to help eliminate student loan debt in the wake of the pandemic.
Earlier this month, South Carolina State University said it would clear $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 they can continue their college education and graduate without the burden of financial debt caused by circumstances beyond their control,” SCSU’s acting president, Alexander Conyers, stated.
Delaware State University said in May that it would cancel more than $700,000 loans for recent graduates, according to CNN, and Shaw University in North Carolina said it would cover summer tuition for more than 400 students, according to WNCN.
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