Emergency Money for Students Arriving Soon – Inside Higher Ed
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is making billions available for emergency grants to help students affected by campus closures. But colleges are still waiting for their help.
The Education Department is beginning to disperse the $14 billion set aside for higher education in the stimulus package passed by Congress two weeks ago, beginning with $6 billion in funds for institutions to give students through emergency grants.
In addition, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told reporters the department is working on releasing billions more in stimulus funds to help defray the costs to institutions of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The department on Thursday also released how much each institution will get based on a complex formula set by Congress that is weighted toward institutions that enroll the greatest number of low-income Pell Grant recipients. Arizona State University, for example, will get $63 million.
However, DeVos didn’t answer a key question colleges have been asking: How exactly will they be allowed to use their share of the money?