D Day – N.C. students graduate with more than a degree

By Katrina Robinson

NABJ News Reporter

Pay to Stay

Imanni Salters and James Milton, two Black students at North Carolina A&T, will be graduating with double Ds – a degree and debt.

Salters has a 3.3 GPA, which is like making it all the way to third base by college standards.

She’s on the dean’s list. A home run.

But as sophomore biology major, she’s concerned she won’t be able to afford school.

Strike.

Salters was awarded scholarships from the school and another corporation. Her freshman year it was enough to be a full ride. But because of the increased tuition rate a cap was placed on her scholarship, cutting some of her funds. Now her loans are up to $5,000.

And it’s going to be stacked by her junior and senior year.

She’s applying for scholarships and investing every penny of the money she’s earned into her learning, but it means less time studying and more time scraping for money.

Milton is not faring well either. He attended North Carolina A&T in 2006, but had to leave after he failed to meet the school’s academic standards. He’s only able to return now as a freshman because North Carolina’s tuition spikes was a financial burden he couldn’t afford.

He’s paying for school with his unemployment check and loans.

Sadly, Salters’ and Milton’s dilemma is parallel to many students in North Carolina.

Conditions that rob students of their finances

According to a report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C., higher education funding is below pre-recession levels in almost all states including North Carolina.

As a result, colleges and universities have had to raise tuition and make spending cuts. It could potentially diminish the quality of education at a time when a highly educated workforce is more crucial than ever to the nation’s economic future.

And now more funds are coming from family homes than the state.

President of UNC Systems, Thomas Ross, gave a speech titled “The Future of Higher Education in the United States” at the Raleigh City Club National Public Affairs Forum. In it, Ross acknowledged that the financial conditions and priorities of the country have put the education of students at risk.

“…We are operating in an environment of shrinking resources, disruptive technologies, and shifting political ideologies,” Ross said. “Not a week goes by that I don’t read another round of reports and articles from multiple sources and perspectives predicting major upheavals, overdue market corrections, or the imminent demise of American higher education as we know it.”

Budget cuts threaten equality

The biggest threat to equality is in higher education.

In the United States, Blacks are impoverished at a disproportionate rate.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday released a 2016 funding blueprint that calls for freezing the maximum Pell Grant award.

According to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, the federal Pell Grant program provides more than $4 billion to African-American college students each year. Without it, hundreds of young blacks would not be able to afford college.

The journal also says that the Pell Grant program has been enormously successful in leveling the playing field in access to higher education.

But the most recent data suggests that progress in increasing the number of low-income students on these campuses is beginning to take place.

And North Carolina’s publicly funded Historically Black Colleges and Universities are as underfinanced and undervalued as ever, according to a report by University of Pennsylvania researchers.

There are significant gaps in funding per full time enrolled student, and in the past two years, controversial bills have threatened to close black colleges like Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, N.C. The university was specifically mentioned in a proposed bill that would measure the effect of dissolving institutions that are small and unprofitable.

No saltiness on Salters behalf

Despite her crucial financial conditions, Salters said that the financial investment is worth it.

“[Financial aid] is a concern but I will stay enrolled at the school,” the Fayetteville native said. “It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. We have the best resources within the [biology] department. They do a great job at connecting their students to resources.”

She said that she doesn’t think it’s fair how HBCUs are being impacted, but it’s to be expected.

“The only people who are going to support HBCUs are HBCU graduates,” she said.

“It’s not the concern of the state or the government to sustain our school. If we’re not getting out and being successful and being able to give back, then it ends there.”