Spelman, Clark Atlanta University, and FAMU Among HBCUS Clearing Tuition Balances

According to Black Enterprise despite the negative impact of COVID-19, three HBCUs have recently announced that they have cleared the debts of students covering the 2020-2021 academic year.Last week, Spelman College announced to its students and on its Facebook page the magnanimous gift.“To address the financial hardships that have taken a toll on students and families over the last year, Spelman College cleared outstanding student balances from AY 2020-2021, an action made possible by the receipt of funds from the federal government.”“This reset to the lower tuition rates of four years ago will have a long-term impact on affordability,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman. “Spelman’s in-depth study into the financial aid needs of our students several years ago reinforced our understanding of one of this country’s fundamental inequities: high performing, high need students are drastically underfunded,” said Campbell.“If 2020 taught us anything, it is that racial fault lines continue to make the lives of African Americans quantitatively harder than those of non-Black Americans.”Clark Atlanta University also announced its plans to lighten the financial burden of its students.