Philander Smith College Receives Generous Donation to Help Students Reduce Financial Stress
Recently ,Philander Smith College, a private HBCU located in Little Rock, Arkansas, received a generous donation to provide financial assistance to students.
The gift, which is a total of $2.5 million, came from a donor who has chosen to remain anonymous. This donation is the largest donation the school has ever received in its 155-year history. The funds will help support low-income students who aspire to complete their bachelor’s degree.
The president of Philander Smith College, Dr. Roderick L. Smothers, Sr., made the announcement through a press release posted on the school’s official website.
“My heart overflows with gratitude and amazement for the level of transformational generosity by anonymous donor,” Dr. Smothers, Sr. said. “This monumental donation will provide tremendous opportunities for our scholars who hail from every walk of life. This gesture not only affects the lives of our students but communities across the nation.”
This donor has previously supported Philander Smith College in the past, as they donated $250,000 in August 2021 to go towards the Endeavour Scholarship. The scholarship is part of the Generational Access and Affordability Program (G.A.A.P). According to NewsOne, the aim of G.A.A.P is to “take a holistic approach to addressing the individual needs of students, so they don’t have to rely on student loans to advance their education.”
Student accessibility is of high importance to Philander Smith College, as they aim to reduce the amount of student loan debt that their graduates have. Based on findings reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the college is succeeding in this notion, with an access rate of 69.1%.