Betsy DeVos Sends Coronavirus Money To Help Tiny Colleges. Did They Need It? – Forbes
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos doled out the latest batch of higher education funding from the CARES Act this week. In this latest tranche of money, the Department of Education sent more than $300 million to incredibly small colleges, including seminaries. That number going to such small schools has raised some eyebrows about how the Education Department allocated this money.
A provision of the CARES Act created a set aside for the Secretary to send funds to colleges and universities most impacted by the coronavirus. The legislation allocated 2.5 percent of the $13.95 billion in the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF)—almost $350 million—to help the schools with the most unmet need to dray costs of the coronavirus or to provide grants to students.
This week the Department of Education allocated the vast majority of this set aside and sent it to tiny colleges. It is unclear that those schools needed the money, especially compared to many other institutions.