A group of former Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students have received wonderful news.

On Oct. 23, 2,777 Morehouse College graduates had nearly $10 million of student loan debt — for the fall 2022 term and previous terms — cleared by the Debt Collective, Insider reports. The remaining balances in the former students’ accounts were transferred from Morehouse College to the Rolling Jubilee Fund, the Debt Collective’s sister organization.

Self-described as “the nation’s first debtors’ union,” the Debt Collective was formed to “[change] the narrative around debt cancellation and forcing the government to eliminate billions of dollars worth of student loans,” per its website.

“Our nation is defaulting on the promise of education when we burden communities, especially Black HBCU graduates, with crushing amounts of student debt,”
Braxton Brewington, a spokesperson for the Debt Collective, shared in a statement, according to Insider. “This nearly $10M of student debt cancellation will put thousands of Black folks in a better position to be able to save for retirement, purchase a home or start a small business.” 

Prior to canceling student loan debt for Morehouse College, the Debt Collective did the same for Bennett College, a fellow HBCU, in May 2022, as previously reported by AFROTECH.

Debt in the amount of $1.7 million was cleared for 462 women of the North Carolina-based college.

While the union continues to work to ensure more college graduates have the opportunity to thrive in life without the headache of debt, it has called out President Joe Biden. 

“President Biden has yet to make good on his campaign promise to eliminate all student debt held by HBCU graduates,” Brewington said. “We’re doing our part, and it’s time Biden does his. Forty five million Americans need this relief.”

In October 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a plan to eliminate $9 billion in student debt for 125,000 borrowers, as previously shared by AFROTECH. As of Oct. 22, almost $42 billion of federal student loan debt has been eliminated “largely due to the Biden administration’s effort to recount borrowers’ past payments and fix what officials have called ‘past administrative failures,'” according to CNN.