Some more details have been released regarding the generous student loan repayment offered to the 2019 Morehouse graduating class.
What We Know:
- May 19, at Morehouse College’s graduation, tech billionaire Robert F. Smith announced he would be paying back all of the 2019 graduating class’ student loans. A number estimating to be well into tens of millions of dollars covering about 396 students.
- Smith’s donation will come in the form of a grant that Morehouse will be responsible for disbursing the funds to relieve the student loan debt to eligible students. The college’s Office of Business and Finance are working out the logistics.
- The pledge to cover the debt only includes loans taken out by by the students themselves and not loans taken out by their parents.
- Smith was prompted to make this generous pledge when he learned over 50% of students at the college fail to graduate due to finances. His hope is that his gift will enable these students to give back quicker than previous graduates.
- In the days after Smith’s announcement more conversations have been sparked about the rising costs of higher education with special focus on private HBCU costs which don’t receive as many donations and philanthropy as some of their public counterparts. Students at private HBCUs are paying $45,000 and up per year for their education.
Hopefully Smith’s generosity will spark other’s generosity and philanthropy and set the focus on how to cut costs to HBCU students across the country.
