Several students who enrolled at Roc Nation School of Music in Brooklyn, backed by JAY-Z, owe thousands of dollars in debt despite the initial offer promising them a “debt-free education.” At least 12 students say they have student debt after they joined the inaugural program in 2021, according to Gothamist.

Roc Nation School of Music launched its inaugural class in the fall of 2021. It came from a partnership between LIU-Brooklyn and Roc Nation. The program offered the opportunity to study music debt-free via its Hope Scholarship.

Roc Nation School promised students to graduate without debt

“I tried to reach you by phone. Roc Nation School at LIU is awarding you a full tuition scholarship. You will receive full tuition and be able to graduate without debt,” LIU President Kimberly Cline wrote in a 2021 message to current student Justice Stephenson.

Stephenson accepted the offer despite thinking it must be too good to be true.

“ I remember being just generally conflicted about school and then coming across this school made me feel a sense of security,” they told Gothamist. “It was a full scholarship immediately. It was a music school, which is iconic and the dream. And JAY-Z is involved.”

The email didn’t mention additional costs to attend the program, according to Gothamist. Tuition at LIU-Brooklyn costs $40,000. Housing, meal plans, health insurance and a full-time university fee costs an additional $22,000, per Gothamist.

Roc Nation School students face unexpected costs

Stephenson said she was asked to pay $26,000 to the school in 2023. She was able to negotiate for costs to go down to $5,000 after saying she had been promised a debt-free graduation. Stephenson initially reached out to Cline with questions about her scholarship but was never able to get in touch to have a conversation.

At least 12 students are in a similar situation. They owe between $5,000 to $39,000, according to Gothamist. After realizing they had to cover fees and housing, some relied on couch surfing or even dropped out of the school or transferred to another institution. In several instances, they were told to take out student loans in order to cover the cost of their education at LIU.

Student Ajaiya Thomas transferred to another school after seeing $19,000 in unexpected charges from the university.

Another student eventually took out loans to pay the $22,000 she owed to LIU.

“When I saw that I still had to pay money and then take out extra loans so that I could have my room and board paid for, it was very, very misleading,” Ashley Barksdale said. 

LIU recently said the scholarship only covered tuition, yet this information does not appear to have been communicated to students during their enrollment.

“Upon admission to the university, Hope Scholarship recipients receive an offer letter from the university that outlines the full-tuition scholarship and any student obligations,” LIU marketing chief Jackie Nealon said. “The offer letter also expressly includes that neither university fees nor housing costs are included in the scholarship.”

Offer letters sent out to students highlighted a “full-tuition scholarship” and “financial grants” allowing the student “to graduate without debt.” They did not mention that academic fees and housing costs weren’t included in the offer, according to Gothamist.

Roc Nation School students have criticized the overall offer

Some students also said that Roc Nation School failed to deliver what it promised, which included guest lectures conducted by artists like Rihanna, DJ Khaled and the Jonas Brothers. Their names were advertised but they never showed up to the school.

During the first year of the program, students said they had to build their own recording studio because of the lack of facilities for their program.