Coast Community College District pays $4.5M to forgive student debt incurred during the pandemic

Coast Community College District students who incurred outstanding debt at Orange Coast, Golden West and Coastline colleges between spring 2020 and spring 2022 were given a boost this month when they learned all debts have been forgiven.

District officials allocated nearly $4.5 million in federal COVID-19 assistance, through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, to pay off and forgive the debt of approximately 15,000 students across the three campuses.

The move will allow students to reenroll in classes by effectively removing “registration holds” placed on their accounts due to nonpayment of funds greater than $25. Resident fees for California community colleges are $46 per unit, and the fall semester begins Aug. 26.

While the average debt amount being erased by the one-time funding allocation is $284, Coast District officials report more than 9,000 of students had outstanding debts of just $150 or less.

“During the pandemic many students were affected financially and weren’t able to make these payments,” Marlene Drinkwine, vice chancellor of finance and administrative services, said Friday. “This funding removes that obstacle by forgiving the outstanding debt, so they can reenroll.”

The forgiveness also applies to students who may have secured some form of financial aid, grants, scholarships or work study assistance but, for whatever reason, withdrew from classes and were consequently required to pay that money back.

Drinkwine said the $4.5 million allocation was distributed so that Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa received $1.8 million while Golden West College in Huntington Beach was given $1.5 million and $1.1 million went to Fountain Valley’s Coastline College.

The debt forgiveness was automatic, and students did not have to sign up or take any action to trigger the repayment.

“There was a very broad announcement made and students were informed directly,” Drinkwine said. “The goal was to be able to reengage with these former students. It was important to us to inform them they no longer had this debt as an obstacle to reenrollment.”

Trustees reviewed the details of the debt-relief rollout in a meeting Wednesday. Drinkwine said staff plans to provide an update on the impact of the program on reenrollment at a Sept. 21 meeting.

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