Meharry Medical College notified its students on Monday that everyone will be receiving $10,000 in cash on Wednesday, as they leave for Thanksgiving break.
The money comes from federal COVID relief funds in the CARES Act sent to higher education institutions, some of which is earmarked to go directly to students in the form of financial aid. Historically Black colleges and universities received roughly $1 billion. At least 20 HBCUs have used the money to erase student debts.
But Meharry president James Hildreth sent the school’s 956 students a video to explain that the money is theirs with no strings attached.
“We felt that there was no better way to begin distributing these funds than by giving to our students who will soon give so much to our world,” Hildreth said.
Still, he advised students to be “good stewards” of the money. “I know Black Friday shopping is tempting, but you’d be well advised to use the funds to pay expenses related to your education and training.”
Meharry and its students have played a key role in Nashville’s response to the pandemic, operating the city’s COVID testing sites since the beginning. The medical school was also hired to advise Metro Schools in pandemic protocols and now administers COVID vaccines around the city.
The nearly 150-year-old institution is one of the largest educators of Black medical doctors and dentists in the country, second to Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C.
But its students also graduate with substantial debts. According to a 2019 analysis, Meharry dental students graduate with more than $280,000 in debt. Its medical students have more than $250,000 in loans, on average. Students in the same programs at the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University take out fewer loans on average.
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