How to Get Emergency Coronavirus Aid at One University: Sign Up for Summer School – The Chronicle of Higher Education
Eastern Michigan University appears to be distributing Cares Act student-relief funds to summer-school students in the form of tuition credit, a move that may violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the coronavirus-stimulus law.
The college received about $13.7 million through the coronavirus-relief package, about $6.8 million of which it must distribute to students affected by the pandemic. By law, the emergency financial-aid grants are supposed to go to students to cover “authorized expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus.” Betsy DeVos, the secretary of education, encouraged institutional leaders to prioritize students with “the greatest need” in a letter to colleges.
However, the university is limiting the distribution of at least some of the funds to students enrolled in summer courses, in what appears to be the form of a tuition credit. In a statement, the university said the Cares Act funds will help “defray the cost of technology, online fees, and other technology-related costs due to providing online courses this term.” Specifically, the university is offering grants of $500 (for students enrolled in three credits) or $1,000 (for students enrolled in six) to summer-school students who are subject to a university-imposed student fee meant to cover the cost of converting in-person courses into online courses.