ATLANTA — Colleges and universities across the nation have been facing funding challenges since COVID-19 hit, with many classes going virtual.
"You're dealing with something that's forcing you every day to rethink all your assumptions about how a college works," said Dr. David Thomas, President of Morehouse College.
Thankfully, Thomas said Morehouse College adapted to these changing times. He said they didn't know what to expect with the pandemic, but feared at least a 25 percent drop in enrollment once classes went virtual. Instead, enrollment only dropped 3 percent.
Thomas said they actually raised a record $107 million for the last fiscal school year for student scholarships. Money is still coming in from a number of sources:
- $1 million from accounting firm Ernst and Young
- $20 million from author and billionaire MacKenzie Scott
- $40 million from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin
- $13 million from Oprah Winfrey
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Thomas also added that alumni donations are up.
To keep up with virtual learning, Morehouse required its instructors to be certified for online teaching, a challenge. Thomas said almost every one of them accepted.
"Ninety-nine percent their summer getting certified to teach online to make sure they were skilled at doing it," Thomas said.
"I think there are good and great years ahead for Morehouse College, not without challenges but it's a huge opportunity," he added.