Multi-billionaire Robert F. Smith made headlines for his pledge to pay off the student loan debt of a whole graduating college class—and now, he says he’s paying off the debt of the students’ parents as well.
Smith, the founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, is donating $34 million to the new Morehouse College Student Success Program in order to pay off the loans that students of the class of 2019 abnd their parents accumulated to fund a Morehouse education.
According to Good News Network, the Morehouse Student Success Program is a scholarship, loan debt, research and educational initiative established by the Board of Trustees as a national investment strategy to curb student loan debt and help graduates to prosper faster. Morehouse will solicit and accept donations made to reduce or eliminate the student loan debt of Morehouse Men and their parents or guardians, thereby creating an opportunity for more financial freedom for new alumni and their families.
The history-making grant from Mr. Smith, that announced his intention to make that grant when he received an honorary doctorate from Morehouse, will ease the financial strain on the class of 2019, the billionaire’s “classmates.” This $34 million contribution to the Morehouse Student Success Program will benefit the new alumni by giving them the opportunity to pursue advanced degrees, start careers, and build wealth without being tethered to undergraduate loan debt related to Morehouse.
Over 400 students, parents, and guardians of the Class of 2019 will receive Morehouse’s inaugural gift under the Student Success Program.
America’s student loan debt—now over $1.5 trillion, according to the U.S. Department of Education (more than America’s $1.3 trillion in auto loan debt)—can exacerbate the wealth gap between black families facing generational poverty as well as other groups. Black households have the lowest median net worth nationally, lagging behind Asian, white, and Latin Americans respectively, as the U.S. Census reports. Economic status can impact loan repayments.
Morehouse will now study the freedom of choice that alumni experience in their life and career when the student loan balances are paid in either full or reduced to manageable levels. The first subjects of this study will be some of the inaugural gift recipients, that will be encouraged to participate in the study. With further investments, the Student Success Program will provide current and future Morehouse students with scholarships and access to financial literacy programs, too, that detail the impact of debt on family budgets. Parents and guardians will be included in educational outreach, as well.
The student loan debt threshold at graduation at Morehouse is between $35,000 and $40,000; that's higher than the average for HBCUs. HBCU graduates borrow approximately twice as much as non-HBCU students, according to UNCF research. One in four HBCU students borrows at least $40,000 to attend college.
Alumni who graduated in May 2019 or finished their degree requirements during summer school 2019 are eligible to receive gifts in the inaugural offering from the Morehouse College Student Success Program. The students' parents or guardians are gift-eligible too. All need to show supporting documents to prove that loans were taken to finance a Morehouse College education and processed by Morehouse. The inaugural gift is covering the full payment of principal and interest for education loan balances as of August 28th, 2019, according to the Department of Education.
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