LANGSTON, Okla. (KFOR) – The cost of higher education can be a barrier for many students, but a local university says it is doing what it can to clear student debt.
On Wednesday, Langston University announced that it had received HEERF institutional funding and will use that money to cancel student account balances.
The program will help students who were enrolled throughout the summer of 2022, fall 2022, and spring 2023 semesters.
In all, university leaders say they plan to clear $4.5 million in student debt.
“The HEERF award allows us to bring balances for students enrolled in a ‘pandemic semester’ to zero. This award will appear on student accounts as W204-Higher Ed Emergency Relief Fund. This includes students not currently enrolled [in] the institution as well as those enrolled during Summer 2022 or Fall 2022 who will now be cleared of any hold preventing them from receiving an official transcript due to a balance,” a note from Langston President Kent Smith, Jr., PhD, read.
Officials say they will not be refunding or reversing payments already made on balances owed to the university.