Changes to student loan program threatens future of black students, HBCUs

This month, President Obama is planning to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, one of the most prestigious of all historically black schools. Yet, at the beginning of the current school year, Morehouse was forced to furlough faculty and staff and make other budget cuts as the result of a sharp decline in enrollment.

 In late 2011, the federal government implemented changes to the administration of one of its most popular student loan options, forcing black students to leave campuses as their loans were denied at alarming rates. More than a year later, critics of the changes have confirmed that the stricter credit requirements now enforced for Direct PLUS Loans are having devastating consequences for black students and threatening the future of historically black colleges and universities.

Read more at theGrio.