JUST IN: Morehouse commencement speaker to pay off Class of 2019's student loans

[mfcorey1]

Billionaire Robert F. Smith, who received an honorary doctorate at Morehouse College’s Sunday morning graduation exercises, had already announced a $1.5 million gift to the school.

But during his remarks in front of the nearly 400 graduating seniors, the billionaire technology investor and philanthropist surprised some by announcing that his family was providing a grant to eliminate the student debt of the entire Class of 2019.

https://www.ajc.com/news/just-morehouse-commencement-speaker-pay-off-class-2019-student-loans/XvMHlS1SVyJiG3mRp1WOWL/?fbclid=IwAR3iMK9OoShI_YC3Yq9BUYDXopdOV_FH9GupBxlAq_LxuMzgmRP79zxHuzs

[Faux pas]

1. Paying it

forward!

[cyndensco]

2. That is HUGE!

What a wonderful start for the Morehouse Class of 2019!

[cp]

3. Splendid!

Much better use of wealth than buying another yacht, or ten.

[Soph0571]

4. And THAT ladies and gentleman

Is how you do it

Link to tweet

[TygrBright]

5. Now that's what I call STYLE! Well done, Sir! n/t

[nitpicker]

6. All well and good, but

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/19/education/morehouse-college-robert-f-smith.html

12 hours ago - Full-time tuition at Morehouse was $25,368 in the latest academic year, and other expenses, including room and board, books and fees, can push the total cost of attendance above $48,000.

((In contrast, Northern Virginia Community College costs $5,412 for two 15-hour credits per year for in-state students and $11,419.50 for out-of-state ones. For those wanting a full-service university, George Mason University rates per semester are $4530 in-state/ $16260 out of state plus $1701 in student fees, plus program activity fees of around $45 a credit (for School of Business). For a 15-credit semester, that makes it $6906/$18636, so two such semesters cost $13812/$37272 (plus book costs). However, freshmen are required to live on campus, adding $6000 to $9000 a year plus meal costs.))

[Ilsa]

7. Anything about paying off 2019 Spelman grads' debt?

I hope he does the same for the Women's college since they'll have a harder time paying off debt with lower income.

[Blue_Tires]

8. Is it retroactive? I'm Class of '99

and as it stands now I don't see one red cent of that money