Imagine having your student debt wiped clean.
It happened for 122 students at Manhattan Area Technical College. President Jim Genandt tells KMAN the college used funds from COVID-19 relief to pay off student debt incurred between Spring 2020 and 2021.
This was done for students who had entered college but couldn’t keep going because of the pandemic, due to whatever interruptions that were pandemic related.
Administrators announced the move last Friday, cancelling more than $170,000 in debt. Genandt says students who owe the college money, typically receive a hold on their accounts until the debt is paid off.
All told, the college received $1.6 million from the feds for sanitization services, masks, distance learning equipment and more.
Genandt credits MATC vice president of operations Carmela Jacobs and the financial team for finding the U.S. Department of Education guidance to help students.
