ATLANTA — Nearly 3,000 Morehouse men have had their debts with the college wiped clean.
The college is teaming up with an organization known as the Debt Collective, the nation's first union of debtors to cancel pending debt.
"We are an organization that grew out of Occupy Wall Street that sort of mimics the labor movement," Braxton Brewington, with the organization, said. "Just like workers stand together to organize for better wages or better working conditions, we believe debtors can do the same."
Brewington added that Morehouse College sold $10 million worth of debt to the collective for $125,000. That's about one penny on the dollar.
It's a "no-string-attached gift" as Brewington describes, which will wipe out debt for 2,800 former students. That includes balances of $20 to $50 in unpaid parking tickets, library fines and even unpaid tuition totaling up to $30,000.
"We are doing this in the wake of COVID, where people are experiencing financial hardships. People are still grappling with the return of student loan payments for the first time in over three years," Brewington said.
Andrew Douglas is a political science professor at Morehouse. He helped coordinate with The Debt Collective.
"The student debt crisis—I think we're all aware of how significant it is," Douglas added. "How disproportionately it harms Black student borrowers."
Douglas got an idea.
"After Robert Smith paid off debt of the entire graduating class in 2019, that led me to think that Morehouse needed to develop some curriculum around debt and democracy," Douglas said.
The idea eventually led to a solution. Douglas used information from The Debt Collective for his class. After working with the organization for two years and a bit of a process, they had a plan to cancel millions in student debt.
Jarel Billups is a former student and one of the recipients.
"Gives you a little bit more cushion in your pocket," Billups said.
Billups said the debt relief has given him more opportunities.
"I, now, have the additional funds to be able to afford a home," Billups said.
Billups no longer owes Morehouse over $15,000. When he got the call, he said he couldn't believe it.
"I actually was getting ready to hang up the phone because, you know, we get a lot of these arduous spam calls. And so, when I got the call, I was like, 'Yeah, you have a great day.' And then, it was like, 'No, no, just hold on just a moment' and then kind of explained it," Billups said.
And it comes just in time as the pause on student loan debt lifted earlier this month. In the wake of COVID, graduates are experiencing financial hardships. And now, they have to pay back debt for the first time in over three years.
"I think the fact that we're talking about debt with the face value of almost $10 million, I think just speaks to, you know, how significant the debt crisis at all levels has become," Douglas said. "This is a type of debt that's being canceled here that we don't think about. This is not federal student loan debt. This is debt that former students owe to the college."
While Billups still has federal student loan debt, he said this certainly helps.
"You hit the workforce," Billups said. "And now, you're inundated with an amount of debt that would equal, you know, another mortgage. So, not only does it stop you from being able to continue education it affects your credit."
Here's how it works.
Through the Rolling Jubilee fund, Morehouse sold the debt to The Debt Collective. The union got rid of it. There's no paperwork involved. If you graduated in Fall 2022 and before, you could be like Billups. Some of these accounts go as far back as the 1990s.
Douglas said he wants to help as many students as he can.
"I hope we can do it again at other schools," Douglas said. "I hope we can replicate this, but I hope we can get to a point where the federal government steps in and provides more relief so that we don't have to depend on private philanthropy to make this kind of relief possible."
Letters will start going out to those impacted this week.
The debt collective organizers said they hope releasing this longtime financial burden for Morehouse men will open the door for more opportunity.
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