South Carolina's historically Black and Christian Clinton College is giving all full-time students free tuition for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year, Clinton College President Lester McCorn announced last week.
Before the move, the small college, located in Rock Hill, already said it was cutting the fall tuition in half and providing its students with new tablets, the Associated Press reported. McCorn said each full-time student will receive a Microsoft Surface laptop at no cost. The cost of the college's tuition is $4,960 a semester and $9,920 yearly. In McCorn's announcement, he noted how the COVID-19 has been taxing for everyone.
"This scholarship assistance will provide access to education to many students who have been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and who otherwise may have had to forgo pursuing their educational and career goals," McCorn said in a statement.
"We want to make sure you can perform with excellence without excuse," he said.
"At Clinton College, we have done our best to keep the school moving forward and providing a quality education, even in a virtual environment," McCorn added.
The school has operated for 120 years and was established by the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church during the Reconstruction era "to help eradicate illiteracy among freedmen," according to the school's website.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
The school hopes to ensure its students get a college education despite financial hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Students who are vaccinated can live on campus and will still be responsible for paying room and board. Those who attend full-time and live off campus can continue their courses online free of charge.
"It has been taxing for each and everyone of us," McCorn said of the pandemic.
The school is among a wave of smaller schools around the state offering free tuition to students during the pandemic, The Herald reported. Spartanburg Community College is currently offering students a similar deal to anyone taking a minimum of six credits — or two courses — while Denmark Technical College recently offered to waive the costs for the first 500 applicants for the fall semester.
