Pharrell Williams paid off an HBCU grad’s debt

Jamie Turner claimed to feel lighter both personally and financially.

Turner completed her studies in political science at Norfolk State University in Virginia two years ago. Turner claimed to have taken out roughly $30,000 in loans to attend this historically Black institution.

Once she left Norfolk, she understood she would need to prepare to pay for this.

Turner told Insider, “I was still $27,000 in debt, and that’s still a lot of debt for someone who just completed college.”

That was her biggest worry up until she discovered that Grammy-winning artist Pharrell Williams had chosen her as one of the NAACP Youth & College leaders to get student debt repayment earlier this year.

She told Insider, “I really felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.” “Since then, I’ve felt really cheerful and light. Even when I feel down, I remind myself, “Well, we don’t have to pay off my college debts anymore,” so I would say that I walk with a little more pleasure.”

@DerrickNAACP’s Derrick Johnson

June 17, 2022

A significant charitable effort has been made in recent years to alleviate socioeconomic inequality, especially among Black people who have school loan debt. Turner’s experience also emphasises how removing that significant financial load may change a person’s course in life as the federal government gets ready to launch a proposal to partially erase student loan debt.

“Just unexpected, that’s all. I had trouble breathing “She said. “There’s no way this is happening, so I just started weeping a lot. My monthly payments were projected to be about $270, so I was unsure how I was going to really pay off my debt. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to pay all those fees,” I said.”

A wave of philanthropists has started forgiving student loan debt for HBCU students.

Advocates, celebrities, and benefactors have been wiping off debt for HBCU students over the last several years.

The Debt Collective, an association of debtors aiming to eliminate all types of debt, gave $1.7 million to women who attended Bennett College in May of last year. The student balances for the Wiley College Class of 2022 were taken care of by an unidentified donor the same month.

For Morehouse College graduates, Robert Smith, a millionaire benefactor, agreed to pay off approximately $40 million in student debts in 2019.

Various other affluent contributors have done the same. MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos and one of the richest women in the world, gave more than $100 million to a number of historically Black colleges and universities in recent years. She gave $40 million to Howard University in Washington, DC, and $5 million to Dillard University in Louisiana, among other historically Black institutions.

Turner now has the flexibility to save for an apartment, pay off her vehicle, and take care of other unpaid obligations since Williams cleared her debts.

She stated, referring to her automobile, “It’s around 35% paid off.”

“I was able to pay off my credit cards and have some funds in my bank account,” the speaker said.

Turner said that her life would be different if she had to pay off her debt.

“With the present inflation and the absence of growing income, there is absolutely no way that I could pay off debt, live alone, and cover other living costs,” she said. “I would have to remain at home with my parents.”

Compared to their counterparts who attend other colleges, HBCU students accrue higher debt.

Compared to their colleagues who attend other colleges, HBCU students accrue 32% higher debt. According to a recent Insider study, Black graduates often make less money than their white counterparts and likely to borrow more money if they go to graduate school.

Turner said that being $30,000 in debt was not the same as being Black since many white folks come from families that either have a college fund or are more than likely going to help them pay off their debt.

For anyone earning $125,000 or less, Biden said he would cancel between $10,000 and $20,000 this month. He also said the payment freeze would now last until January 2023. Additionally, he said that beneficiaries of Pell Grants will get $20,000 in compensation.

In order to help reduce the racial wealth gap, which experts argue has been worsened by the student loan debt issue, lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have urged Biden to go farther in cancelling student loans.

In a February op-ed for BET, Schumer and Johnson said that “President Biden has granted millions of debtors significant assistance by extending the freeze on student loan payments during the COVID-19 outbreak.” “The President has to move on; if the Biden Administration can stop debt, they can also cancel it,”

Turner said that cancelling $10,000 in debt would not be sufficient for anybody, but particularly would not be sufficient for Black people. Therefore, we really need at least $50,000.