FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Fayetteville State University is using $1.6 million in funding to clear the debt of all students who attended the university during the pandemic.
According to a release put out by the university on July 2, any student who attended FSU from fall 2019 to spring 2021, and had a past due balance, has been cleared of their financial obligation.
This was made possible by Fayetteville University using funds from The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III, part of the American Rescue Plan that was signed into law on March 11. This plan provided $39.6 billion to higher education institutions for COVID-19 relief.
In the statement released by the university, Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance, Carlton E. Spellman said, “In alignment with the UNC System’s focus on access and affordability, we leveraged this funding to meet the needs of our students and reduce student debt. As a result, 1442 FSU students are entering into fall 2021, completely university debt-free. We paid $1,653,959 to delete all past-due debt of students”.
Fayetteville State University is a historically black public regional university in Fayetteville, North Carolina. According to the Federal Reserve, 31 percent of Black students are likely to graduate with student loans compared to 20 percent of White students.
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