Everett Community College clears the debts of 3,400 students with pandemic relief funds

Hundreds of debt-burdened students who attended Everett Community College during the pandemic have received a welcome surprise. Their student debt has been wiped away. It's being paid for with federal money from the American Rescue Plan (ARP).

Daria Willis is the President of Everett Community College. She told KUOW’s Kim Malcolm why her college went a step beyond just giving out grants, and decided to forgive debt to more than 3,400 students.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Daria Willis: I went to college not too long ago, and I still have student debt that I'm paying for. There weren't any programs like this when I was in school. If we could do just one small thing to help them be successful, and to pay off the balance that they owe to the college during the pandemic, it was a no brainer situation for me.

Kim Malcolm: It sounds like you had quite a few students with outstanding balances. How did that factor in to your decision?

We had balances from $200 to in excess of $5,000. Typically, when the college looked at the balances owed from year to year, we never had over 3,000 students. We may have had 500 to 700 students from one year to the next. What this showed us is that the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on thousands of students and their ability to be successful in school.

When they have a debt on their account, they're blocked from registering for additional classes, and some of those students go into collections. If we have the opportunity to clear the debt for those students, why not do so?

What would you say to people who argue you could have spent that money otherwise, hired more teachers, or grown the college in some way?

I tell them to read the grant requirements. The guidelines are really specific on how we are to use these funds. There is some hiring allowed with the use of the funds, but it has to be Covid-related expenses. For those people who doubt the way that we have used this, I don't care what your political background is, it's all about making sure that more Americans have an education, and anything that I can do in my seat as president to make that happen, I'm going to do that.

These were one-time federal funds. That kind of funding may not come your way again. Do you support getting rid of student debt from the college level?

Yes, 100%, and especially at community colleges, who have to do so much more with less. Another way that we were able to use our funds was to provide free student housing for over 100 students in our population. We did a survey and saw that thousands of students were impacted by homelessness and housing insecurity during the pandemic.

We've spent nearly $1.5 million of our ARP funds to make sure that students have a safe roof over their head over the next academic year. These types of initiatives — wiping out student debt, providing housing, and putting food in our students bellies — are things that we need to continue to do as we move forward.

People talk about the good old days, but times are changing. Education is becoming so much more expensive. The cost of living is increasing. Why not provide free college? Why not provide free housing? Why not provide access to free health care and food? It doesn't make people lazy. It just makes people have opportunities so that they can continue to provide for their families.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.