U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp has signed legislation that requires college tuition be free for U.S. Virgin Islands students who plan on attending the University of the Virgin Islands.
This new program marks the University of the Virgin Islands as the first historically Black college and university to provide free tuition to students residing in its state/territory, according to The Virgin Islands Consortium.
The bill will use $3 million from the Internal Revenue Matching Fund to the University of the Virgin Islands Scholarship Revolving Fund to keep the free tuition program functioning.
“Many of our talented graduates from our high schools leave the Territory and borrow huge sums of student loan money to attend college. Often times these students do not complete their education because of a lack of financial resources even though they have already borrowed a good deal of money,” Mapp wrote to Senate president Myron D. Jackson. “By approving this measure, it is the first scholarship program of any Territory of the United States, following the lead of only two other states that provide tuition-free Bachelor’s degrees.”
This new law and the opportunities that it will create, is likely to be a positive ‘game changer’ for many families, the governor added.
Dr. David Hall, president of the University of the Virgin Islands said that the legislation will help more Virgin Islanders to obtain access to higher education.
“It is a historic move, we’re one of few jurisdictions that have developed this type of policy for four year degrees. The university has been advocating for this type of policy very intensely for the last six months, so it was very exciting to see it come into existence as we start 2019,” Hall added.
