This SC university will forgive $9.8 million in debt for 2,500 students

South Carolina State University will forgive $9.8 million in student debt to more than 2,500 students, the school announced Thursday.

It’s a bold move for S.C. State acting President Alexander Conyers, who was named acting president of the state’s only public, historically Black four-year university earlier this week.

“We are committed to providing these students with a clear path forward so they can continue their college education and graduate without the burden of financial debt caused by circumstances beyond their control,” Conyers said in a news release. “No student should have to sit home because they can’t afford to pay their past due debt after having experienced the financial devastation caused by a global pandemic.”

The funds will apply to “continuing students,” which means students who owe money to the university and are interested in returning, S.C. State spokesman Sam Watson said. The debt forgiveness does not apply to students who owe student loan debt to the federal government or private lenders, Watson said.

One of the major factors that pushed out former S.C. State President James Clark was declining enrollment numbers. By forgiving student debt, S.C. State thinks it can get students who are willing, but financially unable, to return to campus, the release said.

S.C. State will pay for the debt forgiveness using federal money only, the release said. Of the $9.8 million, $4 million will come from from CARES Act funding and $5.8 million will come from the American Rescue Plan Act.

“This is a tremendous weight I won’t have to carry,” Romaun Myers, a junior from Summerville, said in the news release. “I’m a first-generation college student, one of the only boys on my mom’s side of the family. I have to make it so I can provide for my family.”

This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 3:55 PM.