Smith, a chemical engineer has donated $34 million to Morehouse’s 2019 graduating class. through the Morehouse College Student Success Program — a fundraising and research initiative that will allow graduates to begin their careers without having to worry about debt holding them back.
Smith’s graduation gift is one that will allow graduates of one of the most storied all-male historically Black college to start their careers with no student loan debt.
“You great Morehouse men are bound only by the limits of your own conviction and creativity.” –Robert F. Smith @RFS_Vista#MorehouseGrad2019
In a statement released by the HBCU, Morehouse President David A. Thomas referred to the money as a “liberation gift.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/billionaire-pledges-to-eliminate-student-loans-for-morehouse-college-class-of-2019/2019/05/19/6411e260-3275-4ecc-851e-2013b1580edd_video.html
A study done by the United Negro College Fund found that HBCU students “borrow at higher rates and, consequently, graduate with substantially higher debt than their peers at non-HBCUs.”
The UNCF reports that as of 2013 an average of about 80% of HBCU students take out federal loans as opposed to 55% of non-HBCU students.
Although HBCU students tend to have greater debt than the non-HBCU student, HBCUs generate $14.8 billion in economic impact annually, according to the UNCF.