Florida A&M University students will get $41.5 million in tuition and fee assistance during the current academic year. The money is in addition to more than $16 million in federal CARES Act funds FAMU doled out last year to clear outstanding balances in student accounts.
“When those bills started going away, you started calling my office saying ‘FAMU, did y’all make a mistake? Somehow $3,000, $6000 that I owed disappeared.’ No, it was not a mistake. It was by design,” said FAMU President Larry Robinson. “You need our help, and we are going to do everything we can to make that happen.”
Robinson announced the additional assistance during a convocation to kick off the new semester. “We know that every obstacle that we can knock down that might be in your way will help you get to those great places and make your contributions a lot earlier and be much more effective in your lives,” Robinson said to applause.
The university says more than 60% of FAMU students are eligible for a Pell Grant - federal financial aid that doesn’t have to be paid back. A third of FAMU students are first-generation college students, and the average student comes from a family whose annual household income is less than $50,000.
“This is a very big deal for our students and their families,” said FAMU Vice President for Student Affairs William E. Hudson. “It decreases the potential debt of our students.”
In this academic year, full-time students will receive $2,500 each semester (up to $5000 for the year) toward tuition and fees. The amount will be pro-rated for part-time students.
