Ghanaian Students At The University Of Memphis Can Stay–For Now
Nearly 200 Ghanaian students will be allowed to remain at the University of Memphis after their home country made a $1 million payment towards the debt it owes the school.
According to Fox 13 Memphis, although the payment does not cover the full balance, it will allow the 185 students who are living in on-campus residencies to remain there.
“We remain hopeful that the Republic of Ghana will meet its debt obligations to ensure the students will be able to continue their education through the fall semester,” a spokesperson for the university told the outlet.
As Commercial Appeal reported in July, the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, which administers scholarships on behalf of the Republic of Ghana, had not made payment by the due date agreed to by the university and the Republic of Ghana, which put the students on scholarships through the program in peril of losing their places at the University of Memphis.
“The Ghana Scholarship Secretariat has failed to fully meet its financial obligations,” the university said in a statement on July 7. “As a result, these students face academic dismissal, visa complications, and loss of housing and support, through no fault of their own if GSS does not fully meet all financial obligations.”
The GSS owes $3.6 million in total to the university and including a previous balance of $400,000, reported by Ghanian outlet Ghana Web, it has now paid down $1.4 million of the debt it owes to the University of Memphis.
The leader of the Ghanaian student cohort, Fredrick Badu-Asamoah indicated at the time that the students had begun to exhaust their actions and were beginning to become frustrated with their situation.
“This situation is heartbreaking. We’re not here on personal funds—we’re here representing the Republic of Ghana. We’ve written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ghana Embassy in Washington, the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat, and efforts to reach the presidency proved futile, and we’ve received no decisive intervention,” Badu-Asamoah told the outlet.
Per their reporting, a similar predicament had befallen Ghanaian students who were studying abroad in the United Kingdom in May.
According to David Farman, the spokesperson for over 50 students in that country who also rely on the GSS to distribute funding for their education, the students were in limbo at that point, much like students at the University of Memphis were before the GSS made a payment.
“Since last year, October, we received emails from the university concerning the payment of fees. Unfortunately the issue has not been resolved to date,” Farman told Joy News.
He continued, noting that there is a marked discrepancy between what the GSS wants to pay and what the university in England he and others attend will accept.
“So, it boils down to the fact that as a result of the university rejecting the 10% payment which the Secretariat actually proposed. That is why they’re taking the stand with the 90% being taken care of or later by students.”
He concluded, “We are hoping to raise over $542,000. If each student gets around $12,000 in public support, it could ease the burden significantly. So far, we haven’t raised any money yet, as the GoFundMe was only set up after engagement with the university earlier this week.”
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