Everett Community College clears student debt from pandemic
EVERETT — Everett Community College has cancelled student debt for more than 3,400 people. Using money from the American Rescue Plan Act, the college cleared any outstanding balance for students who took classes during the pandemic.
“This is probably one of the few times we will see money like this come from the federal government,” said Everett Community College President Daria Willis. “So why not spend it on students? That’s who we’re here to serve.”
In addition, the college is providing free on-campus housing for full-time students and up to $2,500 per student for educational expenses. The money comes from roughly $12 million the college received from the American Rescue Plan Act.
“We looked to see how many students owed a balance on their accounts for EvCC and it was a record number,” Willis said. “… The number really highlighted for me and the team that the COVID impacts were definitely substantial on our students.”
Typically, somewhere between 500 and 700 EvCC students have an outstanding balance, Willis said. The college chose to spend the federal money on clearing the debt when it saw the number was in the thousands.
In total, Everett Community College is forgiving $1.2 million in student loans for 3,442 students who took classes spring quarter 2020 through summer quarter 2021.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/everett-community-college-clears-student-debt-from-pandemic/