Brown University enrolling up to 50 U. of Puerto Rico students tuition-free
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Brown University says it will enroll up to 50 students from the University of Puerto Rico tuition-free following the destruction from Hurricane Maria.
The Ivy League school in Providence is also assisting the students with travel and helping them find housing. Brown says it has accepted about 40 students as part of the initiative so far, and about 25 have already arrived on campus.
More than 60,000 students attend the University of Puerto Rico, which has been closed since the hurricane. Many still have no power or running water at their homes in Puerto Rico.
Several of the students say they are thankful for Brown's offer, and say it was difficult leaving their families behind.
Brown has stepped up after other natural disasters. The school welcomed students displaced from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
CBS affiliate WAFB reports Tulane University in New Orleans is also opening its doors to some Puerto Rican students in the wake of the storm. Tulane will offer a free guest semester program in the spring of 2018 for students from universities in colleges in Puerto Rico, as long as they pay their school's spring tuition. For details about how to apply, click here. The application deadline is Nov. 1.