On October 28, 2021, the Center for Responsible Lending and the United Negro College Fund hosted a virtual discussion highlighting how the COVID-19 crisis has affected Black students nationwide due to our nation’s ongoing systemic racism.

The talk highlighted new findings that reveal how the experiences of Black student loan borrowers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) differ from the experiences of their Black peers at predominately white institutions (PWIs). Panelists drove home the need for $50,000 in across-the-board student loan cancellation and increased HBCU funding.

Watch the video:


Participants included:

  • Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO
  • Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould, Missouri Faith Voices Executive Director
  • Robert T. Stephens, Voices for Progress Policy Director and HBCU graduate
  • Ashley Harrington, Federal Student Aid Senior Advisor
  • Moderator: Jaylon Herbin, outreach associate at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL)

The panel was organized by the United Negro College Fund and the Center for Responsible Lending with generous funding from the Lumina Foundation.

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