Virginia State University Clearing Student Balances Using Funds From CARES Act

There’s plenty of reason to rejoice if you’re a student at Virginia State University because the HBCU just announced that all student balances will be cleared thanks to the CARES Act.

On Friday, VSU announced that it will clear unpaid student balances for those enrolled during the pandemic using CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act dollars, Yahoo News reports. The payoff applies to all students who took classes from March 13, 2020, to the spring semester of 2021.

The cleared balances only apply to balances at VSU and do not apply to outside loans any of the students took out.

“We care about our students and their academic success and want to provide them the privilege of moving forward with a zero balance,” provost and senior vice president of academic and student affairs Donald Palm said in a press release.

“We believe that relieving them from these balances will provide much-needed relief that will allow our scholars to focus more intently on their academics and degree completion.”

The bold move was made in an effort for the HBCU to continue providing access to transformative education, the school says. VSU will clear all unpaid tuition and fee balances and will pay the balances owed to the University for students who attended classes during the spring, summer, fall, winter 2020 and spring 2021 semesters.

The University is expected to clear the remaining balances after all federal, state, and private awards are applied, they announced.

University officials credited the CARES Act funding for being “critical to helping students continue to pursue their academic dreams” as COVID-19 has “severely affected financial resources for thousands of families nationwide.”

VSU spoke with WTVR and explained how students will be informed that their balances were paid off.

“Students whose balances are paid off will receive an email indicating such, as well as a billing statement that reflects the current balance is zero,” they said. “That should happen within the next seven days.”

It’s a good time to be a VSU student. Let’s see if other HBCUs and schools across the country follow their lead.