More than 100 students at Manhattan Area Technical College will have their debts paid off.
MATC administrators announced Friday that the college had cleared 122 students of their debts totaling more than $ 170,000. In a statement, MATC vice president Carmela Jacobs said the US Department of Education had issued guidelines that would allow colleges to use their latest round of federal funding “for a variety of student needs, including canceling student debt.”
“Among other things, MATC has decided to support students during the pandemic by transferring unpaid institutional credits so that students can resume their studies – be it here at MATC or at another institution,” said Jacobs.
The college paid off the debt for every student who attended the MATC from March 2020 to date. Jacobs said MATC received $ 1.6 million from the federal government to help fight COVID-19.
This money is for items such as disinfection services, masks, temperature tests, and distance learning equipment. Jim Genandt, President and CEO of MATC, said that all stimulus funds “come with many conditions,” but one option that many colleges have chosen and that is approved by federal regulators is to free students from their debts.
“If a student has such debts, their report card is blocked,” said Genandt. “This can harm them as they try to get financial help back to school. If they cancel this debt, they will be given a second chance.”
K-State spokeswoman Michelle Geering said the university is still considering what to do with its federal funds and it has not canceled any student debt.
MATC administrators also received $ 1.08 million in student grants. This federal money will be used to help students with higher costs of living outside of their college experience. For example, the grants can help with spending on broadband internet or improve equipment to help students with distance learning, Genandt said.
“We hope that some of these students will return to us or attend secondary school,” said Genandt. “They usually don’t have their student debts with us in their heads because they deal with life situations.”
Genandt said that especially at a two-year college, he sees a lot of students figuring out what to do in life and they “don’t need that barrier” in their learning. “We thought let’s do the right thing and help them,” he said.
Genandt said applications for Tech College’s programs this fall semester are strong, with around 70-75% capacity so far. He said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the fall school enrollment numbers.
“We are still processing a lot of applications and the high school students are still very interested in our programs,” said Genandt. “By the 20th day of the semester when we do our official enrollment count. … This is the number that counts. “
Genandt said he has been looking for “the silver lining in the thunderstorm” since the pandemic began.
“I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to our students, lecturers and staff over the past 18 months,” said Genandt. “Our faculty and staff responded (to the pandemic) with adjustments and improvisations to keep students studying, and our students responded by learning to do more things remotely.”
Genandt said the pandemic had sparked more interest in the college’s programs and hands-on learning opportunities.
“It’s kind of cool to see technicians come by and be treated with a little more respect,” said Genandt. “More and more people are finding that if they go through us they can get a pretty good entry-level job with little or no student debt.”
source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/matc-relieves-outstanding-debt-for-122-students-news/
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