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Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - Printable Version

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Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - Jonathan Whatley - 05-19-2019

A life-changing surprise gift yesterday for the graduating class of 2019 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Commencement speaker Robert F. Smith, a hedge fund billionaire with stakes particularly in enterprise software companies, announced that his family is making a donation to pay off student loans for every graduate in the class. "We're gonna put a little fuel in your bus," he put it.

Morehouse College is the all-male Historically Black College that's awarded more bachelor's degrees to African-American men than any other school in the country. Alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, and Spike Lee.

RE: Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - Muldoon - 05-19-2019

Wow, that is incredible!

RE: Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - MrBossmanJr - 05-19-2019

Oh, wow! That's incredible.

RE: Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - Supermind - 05-20-2019

I read about it on google news. How generous of him!!

RE: Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - PrettyFlyforaChiGuy - 05-20-2019

I hope someone out there does a longitudinal study on this class to see their outcomes, because this is a golden opportunity both for those students and advocates in general.

RE: Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - Exfactor - 05-21-2019

I attended Morehouse College but left as funds for my scholarship dried out during the recession which lead to me to the Big 3. Morehouse is a very interesting place, the guy sitting next to you in class could be a Bill Gates Scholar, the guy behind you an Oprah Winfrey Scholar, while the guy in the front of you parents are struggling to pay 40,000 a year in tuition. I met so many students on campus who rejected Harvard, Yale and other top schools to attend the school. A great number of individuals I started their with are now physicians, lawyers, working at Google or Microsoft or bio-tech companies, some working on their phds ect. They will pay it forward.

RE: Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - cookderosa - 05-21-2019

(05-20-2019, 12:23 PM)PrettyFlyforaChiGuy Wrote: I hope someone out there does a longitudinal study on this class to see their outcomes, because this is a golden opportunity both for those students and advocates in general.

I'm such a synic.... but I don't think this morally obligates the students to "do" anything different than they were planning. His speech hinted at an expectation of paying it forward, but what does that mean? To take a job in a certain sector? To earn a certain income so you can donate back to a scholarship fund? To dedicate your career to service?
While I love the generosity, it's not a gift if it has strings. The recipient may or may not look at their career any differently than if they had their debt to repay.

And to Exfactor's point, I think the college culture will be a more important contributing factor to whether or not students pay it forward and what that looks like.

RE: Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - RANSOMSOUL - 05-21-2019

(05-21-2019, 01:40 PM)cookderosa Wrote:
(05-20-2019, 12:23 PM)PrettyFlyforaChiGuy Wrote: I hope someone out there does a longitudinal study on this class to see their outcomes, because this is a golden opportunity both for those students and advocates in general.

I'm such a synic....   but I don't think this morally obligates the students to "do" anything different than they were planning.  His speech hinted at an expectation of paying it forward, but what does that mean? To take a job in a certain sector?  To earn a certain income so you can donate back to a scholarship fund?  To dedicate your career to service?  
While I love the generosity, it's not a gift if it has strings.  The recipient may or may not look at their career any differently than if they had their debt to repay.

And to Exfactor's point, I think the college culture will be a more important contributing factor to whether or not students pay it forward and what that looks like.

Hey J!!! I have been traveling so much (currently living not in China) that unfortunately, coming into the forum has not happened too much. However, I am back in SoCal for a month and why not spend some free time checking in  Tongue  With regard to the generous offer from Robert Smith, all I felt during the offer was a joy for each of the students and did not see a handcuffed expectation for the students to give back. However, I did feel a challenge to the highly successful Alumni in the front row who Mr Smith gave a direct challenge to step up and give back to a school that he felt has given a tremendous value to them. I would say that I agree with your overall position and also, did not see your position stated in the offering.

I do feel back for the class of 2018 & 2020!!!  Sad Big Grin

RE: Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - fnews - 05-22-2019

Graduates of this class are very lucky. Since student loans are a big problem for many students. Debts for which remain for many years after graduating from university or college. But the cost of education is high and many have no other options than to take a student loan ... Personally, I began to pay a student loan from the first year, for this, I used a student credit card. But I managed to pay only half of this debt. I had been paying this loan for a few years after graduation. Therefore, the guys are very lucky!

RE: Student Loans Cancelled for an Entire Graduating Class - cookderosa - 05-22-2019

(05-21-2019, 02:49 PM)RANSOMSOUL Wrote:
(05-21-2019, 01:40 PM)cookderosa Wrote:
(05-20-2019, 12:23 PM)PrettyFlyforaChiGuy Wrote: I hope someone out there does a longitudinal study on this class to see their outcomes, because this is a golden opportunity both for those students and advocates in general.

I'm such a synic....   but I don't think this morally obligates the students to "do" anything different than they were planning.  His speech hinted at an expectation of paying it forward, but what does that mean? To take a job in a certain sector?  To earn a certain income so you can donate back to a scholarship fund?  To dedicate your career to service?  
While I love the generosity, it's not a gift if it has strings.  The recipient may or may not look at their career any differently than if they had their debt to repay.

And to Exfactor's point, I think the college culture will be a more important contributing factor to whether or not students pay it forward and what that looks like.

Hey J!!! I have been traveling so much (currently living not in China) that unfortunately, coming into the forum has not happened too much. However, I am back in SoCal for a month and why not spend some free time checking in  Tongue  With regard to the generous offer from Robert Smith, all I felt during the offer was a joy for each of the students and did not see a handcuffed expectation for the students to give back. However, I did feel a challenge to the highly successful Alumni in the front row who Mr Smith gave a direct challenge to step up and give back to a school that he felt has given a tremendous value to them. I would say that I agree with your overall position and also, did not see your position stated in the offering.

I do feel back for the class of 2018 & 2020!!!  Sad Big Grin


Hey! You sound great, hope you and the family are doing well.

I think his generosity is amazing and I do sincerely hope the students do pay it forward in some way.
Be well my friend!