Caribbean nation deep in debt to Texas school
WICHITA FALLS – A Caribbean island country sending students to study at Midwestern State University is in debt to the university for approximately $900,000 of overdue tuition, a university official said.
Midwestern State no longer accepts new students on government sponsorships from Dominica because of the outstanding balance — paid down from $1.4 million at its height, the official said.
Hit by natural disasters and fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commonwealth of Dominica struck an agreement with Midwestern State to pay its debt, Dr. Keith Lamb, the Wichita Falls university’s vice president for enrollment management and student affairs, said in a recent interview.
“We’re very pleased to have a formal payment arrangement with the government of Dominica, and we’re pleased for our students that they can continue,” Lamb said. “These are some really outstanding students.”
The university has 59 students from Dominica, including 20 grandfathered in on government sponsorships.
Midwestern State has had a longstanding relationship with the government of Dominica, which has been a good partner, Lamb said. And the government would pay all or part of a student’s tuition through sponsorships, depending on each person’s need.
But the island nation’s economy relies heavily on tourism, and Dominica has been dealing with hurricane damage over the years and the impact of COVID-19. The government fell behind on payments to the university.
“They fell behind to a point where this past fall we did notify students that were on the government sponsorship that they would no longer be able to continue at Midwestern for the spring until payment arrangements were made with the government,” Lamb said.
He said it was difficult for univerity officials to see the students in that situation, although they were continuously enrolled, he said. But just the prospect of not being able to reenroll was a weight on the students.
As long as Dominica honors the payment plan, those on government sponsorships may continue attending the university, Lamb said.
Midwestern State isn’t the only higher education institution for which the government of Dominica has fallen behind on tuition payments.
The government ran up a tab of $3.1 million to Grambling State University in Louisiana, according to an Aug. 15, 2023, story in Dominica News Online.
Midwestern State has been grappling with its own financial challenges, including a budget deficit of approximately $3.6 million stemming from falling enrollment and retention.
International students from the Caribbean have been a part of student life at Midwestern State since the early 1990s. They have shared their cultures through the Caribbean Students Organization’s Caribfest and other activities.
The 59 students from Dominica make up the school’s third-largest contingent of international students. The largest group is 130 students from India, and its second-biggest is 73 students from Nepal.