Everett Community College clears the debts of 3,4000 students with pandemic relief funds

Hundreds of debt-ridden students who attended Everett Community College during the pandemic received a welcome surprise. Your student debt is wiped away. It is paid for with federal funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP).

Daria Willis is President of Everett Community College. She told KUOW’s Kim Malcolm why her college went a step further than just providing scholarships and decided to cancel debt to more than 3,400 students.

This interview was edited for the sake of clarity.

Daria Willis: I went to college not long ago and I still have student debt that I pay off. There weren’t any such programs when I was at school. If we could do just one small thing to help them succeed and pay off the balance they owe college during the pandemic, it would be a no-brainer for me.

Kim Malcolm: It sounds like you have some college students with excellent grades. How did that contribute to your decision?

We had balances ranging from $ 200 to over $ 5,000. Typically, when the college looked at the balances owed from year to year, we never had more than 3,000 students. From one year to the next we had maybe 500 to 700 students. This has shown us that the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on thousands of students and their ability to do well in school.

If they have debt in their account, they cannot enroll in additional courses, and some of these students go in collections. If we can get these students off their debts, why not?

What would you say to people who would argue that you could have spent the money differently, hired more teachers, or enlarged the college in some way?

I tell them to read the funding conditions. The guidelines are really specific on how we should use these funds. With the use of the funds, some settings are allowed, but they must be Covid-related expenses. For those who doubt the way we have used this, I don’t care about your political background, it’s just about making sure more Americans are educated and all I can do in my office as president to make this happen, I’ll do that.

These were one-off federal funds. This type of funding may no longer be an option. Do you help reduce student debt at the college level?

Yes, 100%, and especially at community colleges that have to achieve a lot more with less. Another way we used our funds was to provide free student accommodation for over 100 students from our population. We conducted a survey and found that thousands of students were affected by homelessness and housing insecurity during the pandemic.

We spent nearly $ 1.5 million of our ARP funds to ensure students had a safe roof over their heads for the next academic year. These types of initiatives – getting rid of student debts, providing housing, and putting food in the stomachs of our students – are things we must continue to do as we move forward.

People talk about the good old days, but times change. Education is getting more and more expensive. The cost of living is increasing. Why not offer a free college? Why not provide free living space? Why not provide access to free medical care and food? It doesn’t make people lazy. It only gives people opportunities to continue to support their families.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.