Harris-Stowe State University, one of the two Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Missouri, has joined other HBCUs nationwide in using federal pandemic relief funds to cancel student debt.
Dr. LaTonia Collins Smith, Harris-Stowe's interim president, said the pandemic created an "insurmountable burden" of student debt that led to low enrollment this fall.
"Many of our students were saying they couldn't work — because of COVID-19, they lost their jobs," said Smith. "As a result they could not make payments towards their balances for the previous semester or the semesters which were impacted by COVID-19."
The university pledged to use federal funds to zero out the students' account balances from the 2020-2021 academic year. In total, about $330,000 worth of debt was expunged, averaging about $1,076 per student.
Eliminating the threat of payments coming due allowed students to focus on their education, Smith said, adding they were overjoyed with the news — once they figured out it was real.
"Ironically, many of the students thought it was a hoax," said Smith.
After sending an email to notify students, school officials spent most of the next week convincing them the news was true. Letters and phone calls of gratitude started to pour in from students and parents.
Smith recalled a student who had lost their job, had to spend their semester away from campus and incurred financial responsibilities for the funeral expenses of numerous loved ones they lost to the pandemic.
"Just knowing that you could alleviate just a small bit of pressure from a student and everything that they were going through was amazing for us," Smith said. "Cases like that helped us know that we did the right thing."
- Dr. LaTonia Collins Smith, Interim President of Harris-Stowe State University, St. Louis, Missouri
