SALISBURY — Livingstone College will provide a clean slate for students who enrolled in classes during the spring semester.

Livingstone on Friday announced it will spend about $2.8 million in COVID-19 relief funding to forgive balances owed to the college by students who attended during the just-ended semester. To take advantage of the debt forgiveness initiative, students need to sign a return a document no later than Thursday. The debt forgiveness applies to money owed to the school rather than third-party loan providers.

The funding will complement more than $4 million per year in need-based aid Livingstone already provides to students who exceed their borrowing capacity.

“The economic hardships created by the COVID-19 virus is unprecedented and has made it extremely difficult for students to pursue their dreams of obtaining a college education during this period of economic uncertainty,” said Livingstone President Jimmy Jenkins in a letter to qualifying students. “The population we serve relies heavily on student loans to pay for their college education. Therefore, as we look forward to the fall 2021 academic semester, we would like to remove one of the primary barriers related to persistence — student debt.”

A historically Black college, Livingstone serves about 1,100 undergraduate students. Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows Livingstone students have a median total debt between $29,750 and $35,500 after graduating, which includes balances owed to parties other than the college.

Traditionally, the college has allowed students to register for classes even if they have unpaid bills, said Senior Vice President and COO Anthony Davis. Friday’s announcement means all students will be able to register for fall classes with no outstanding balance, Davis said.

“Access and affordability must work in tandem,” he said. “The population we serve has been significantly impacted by this pandemic. Therefore, we are deploying every resource possible in support of our students and their families.”

Asked whether a similar initiative might be possible after a future semester if the school receives more relief funding, Davis said, “We are examining every available resource to impact the students and the families who have been affected by the COVID-19 virus.”

The batch of funding used for the debt forgiveness initiative comes from the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. That’s money intended to help students adversely affected by the pandemic, Davis said. Livingstone’s portion is a small part of the $14 billion allotted to the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund when the CARES Act passed Congress and was signed into law in March 2020.