WUNC: UNC System HBCUs Offer Free Summer Classes
All the historically Black colleges and universities in the UNC System are using federal COVID-19 relief funds to offer free summer courses this year to at least some students, as part of a range of initiatives that directly benefit students. Some have also given housing and dining discounts and emergency grants and canceled outstanding bursar balances for current and returning students.
The precise slate of offerings and eligibility for benefits have differed across institutions, but Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina Central and Winston-Salem State universities have each given their students some combination of those benefits thanks to substantial federal funding granted to HBCUs during the pandemic.
At N.C. A&T, in-state students can take up to two courses for free each summer, and out-of-state students can take one free of charge per summer.
“I didn't actually know that summer school was free until they were like, ‘Oh, you have nothing on your bill.’ I was like, ‘Oh, okay, summer school is free. Oh, that's fabulous.’ So I grabbed as many classes as I could,” Buckhana said.
That's exactly what administrators are hoping students like her will do — take advantage of summer school and graduate on time with as little debt as possible.