SALISBURY, N.C. — Colleges and universities across the state will have to adjust admissions and how students pay for college after two Supreme Court decisions this week.
In separate rulings, the Supreme Court curtailed the use of affirmative action in admissions and struck down President Joe Biden’s plan to eliminate millions in student debt.
At Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, the college’s president said an overwhelming majority of the student body relies on, or qualifies for, some form of federal financial aid.
“Ninety-seven percent of the students on my campus require federal financial aid and are Pell eligible. And, 73% are first-generation college attendees,” said Anthony Davis on Friday.
Davis, himself a former student at Livingstone, said his historically Black college serves a specific demographic of mostly first-generation college students, facing significant socio-economic hurdles.
“When you think about the population that I serve,” Davis said, “Many of the students who select Livingstone College for their academic preparation will have debt to the tune of about $100,000 after four years.”
In the admissions office, Vice President of Enrollment Management Anthony Brooks said the Supreme Court’s decision to strike President Joe Biden’s plan to eliminate millions in student debt will affect students.
“Students and families will have to reprioritize. Education, of course, is the great equalizer. But at the same time, if education is not obtainable based on finances, then I believe it will cause them to pause and make other types of decisions,” Brooks said.
The college will continue its goal of remaining affordable, according to Brooks. Currently, it allows the stacking of scholarships for students, meaning a student who qualifies for an academic and athletic scholarship can use both, and uses institutional funds to offset student costs.
“So, regardless of the ruling, we know that it will have somewhat of an impact, we’re going to do everything at our power here in Livingstone College to ensure that our education, that we offer, is always affordable,” Brooks added.
Brooks said the college will continue to make internal adjustments to keep the college’s affordability goals in mind, while Davis said opportunities for relief, both now and in the future, are critical.
“I think if we can bail out Wall Street, we can also bail out the young people who are looking to take education to help make our America the America that it can be,” Davis said.“I think if we can bail out Wall Street, we can also bail out the young people who are looking to take education to help make our America the America that it can be,” Davis said.
Davis is tasked with steering the roughly 1,000 expected students in 2023-24 through the college experience as president and CEO, including new freshmen, who will apply for colleges and universities across the country without affirmative action guiding admissions principles.
“We’re upholding our mission that we’ve had for years. We’ve always had an opportunity for all students of all races to be able to attend Livingstone College,” Brooks said.
However, both Brooks and Davis said the ruling could indirectly drive more potential students to HBCUs.
“I believe that there is an opportunity for those who had attended some of those highly selective institutions to really take a deeper look into HBCUs as a viable alternative to some of those more highly selective institutions that they have selected in the past,” Davis said.
The president also said his work as an officer for the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, working with 20 of the country’s top business schools, showed firsthand how efforts to increase diversity and reduce historic inequality led to innovation and new ideas.
“I understood and saw how diversity changed trajectory of some of our top business schools and how business and industry wanted to be a part of that,” Davis said. “Because it drove innovation and ideas.”