Newkirk

WILBERFORCE — The Supreme Court’s decision last week to overturn President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan drew the attention and ire of Wilberforce University’s new president.

“I think it’s a big mistake,” Dr. Vann Newkirk told the Gazette. “What we are about to see is our economy is going to slow down.”

The plan, which would have allowed eligible borrowers to cancel up to $20,000 in debt and would have cost more than $400 billion, had been blocked since the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary hold in October.

About 43 million Americans would have been eligible to participate. Among those are students who attend historically black colleges and universities like Wilberforce — the nation’s oldest private HBCU.

Newkirk said many low-income students borrow money to go to college to “better themselves” and improve their situation. But without Biden’s plan, which also included lowering monthly payments, Newkirk questions if those students will continue to go to college and if they will pursue careers such as teaching and social work — jobs that traditionally are not high paying but are rewarding.

“We are creating a hardship and we are determining our future … to failure because we are not going to have those kinds of professionals in the future,” Newkirk said. “We need more social workers now than we ever needed. We can’t get enough educators to educate kids. There already is skepticism about taking out loans.”

Newkirk said he is also concerned about the court striking down affirmative action programs at two universities, effectively taking away the ability for institutions of higher education to consider race as a factor for admission.

He called it the “first step” in looking to get rid of some of the Pell Grant, which is needs-based and does not need to be repaid. At Wilberforce, 90 percent of the students are Pell eligible, Newkirk said.

With the school’s first tuition increase since 2012 ($1,000 for 2023-24), there are fears those students won’t be financially able to stay in school.

“We do a good job with those students,” Newkirk said. “We graduate a lot of those students. (But) our kids don’t have enough money. They have to work.”

Regardless, Newkirk said Wilberforce will educate its students to the best of its ability.

“We’re going to continue to prepare students … at an affordable price,” he said, adding that students can get up to six hours free during a summer session.

“We’re doing that to try to help our students try to get to where they need to be,” Newkirk said. “This is a critical time for universities all across America … especially for schools that serve minority students.”

Reach Scott Halasz at 937-502-4507.