4/9 email; see How much by institution

Dear Delegates,

The U.S. Department of Education just announced that it will release the first $6 billion in federal stimulus money directly to colleges and universities to provide “direct emergency cash grants to college students whose lives have been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak.” The full text of the announcement is below.

The most recent federal stimulus, “COVID 3,” includes $14 billion in funding for institutions of higher education. The inclusion of funds for higher ed was the result of a legislative struggle, in which Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, demanded funding for more than corporations. I was able to thank him directly in a conversation earlier this week. The demand, of course, originated in pressure from below, as it always does, from students, unions and communities. I believe it also owes something to Senator Sanders’s campaign to address the needs of colleges and college students. The effort included strenuous advocacy by our national union, AFT, which in turn was responding to calls from the PSC and others to push for a larger federal contribution to higher ed funding. It was a major victory, but there is much more to be done.

$14 billion is not enough for the damage higher education nationally has suffered in this crisis, especially coming on top of the fact that many public universities, including CUNY, never recovered from the austerity measures following the 2008 recession. Work has already begun on pushing for additional higher ed money in the next federal stimulus, and the PSC has been actively involved in discussions about what shape it will take.

The Department of Ed press release includes a link to the table of allocation of this first installment of funds. The allocation is based on the number of students in a college and the number of Pell-grant recipients, so CUNY’s allocations are relatively high, more than $235 million distributed among the colleges. That’s great news for our students and CUNY colleges. The union vigorously supports the provision of direct grants to students whose lives have been disrupted by the pandemic, especially because the pandemic does not affect us all equally and CUNY students are often from the communities hardest hit because of structural and racist inequality.

But before we start mentally spending the CUNY allocation, we should be aware that the initial $6 billion is rightly designed to go directly to students, and that the remaining funds also carry restrictions under the terms of the stimulus. These are also one-time amounts, not recurring funds. As PSC members, we should expect to keep fighting to prevent any cuts in State and City budgets for CUNY. The battle is far from over.

The Department of Ed is expected to put out further information about how states apply for the remaining funds. The PSC leadership has been studying the language of the stimulus bill, discussing the issue with CUNY management, working with the AFT and with Senator Schumer’s staff—and trying to ensure that the funds are used in the best possible way at CUNY. That work will continue, but it’s a relief to have some good news for our students and our own workplace.

Best wishes to all for your health in this tough time. Barbara Bowen

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced today more than $6 billion will be distributed immediately to colleges and universities to provide direct emergency cash grants to college students whose lives and educations have been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak. The funding is available through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law by President Donald J. Trump less than two weeks ago.

"What's best for students is at the center of every decision we make," said Secretary DeVos. "That's why we prioritized getting funding out the door quickly to college students who need it most. We don't want unmet financial needs due to the coronavirus to derail their learning."

The CARES Act provides nearly $14 billion to support postsecondary education students and institutions. Colleges and universities are required to utilize the $6.28 billion made available today to provide cash grants to students for expenses related to disruptions to their educations due to the COVID-19 outbreak, including things like course materials and technology as well as food, housing, health care, and childcare. In order to access the funds, the Department must receive a signed certification from the higher education institution affirming they will distribute the funds in accordance with applicable law. The college or university will then determine which students will receive the cash grants.

School allocations are set by formula prescribed in the CARES Act that is weighted significantly by the number of full-time students who are Pell-eligible but also takes into consideration the total population of the school and the number of students who were not enrolled full-time online before the coronavirus outbreak. The Department is utilizing the most recent data available from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and Federal Student Aid (FSA) for this calculation.

Institutions will receive allocations and guidance for the institutional share of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund in the coming weeks. Institutions will be able to use these funds to cover costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus.

Additional information on institution-level funding for students, including data tables, can be found here. The Secretary's letter to college and university presidents with additional information on this funding allocation can be found here.

The funding allocations announced today are part of the nearly $31 billion Congress allocated to the Department to distribute to students, K-12 schools, and higher education institutions under the CARES Act. The Department, at the Secretary's urging, is working to make funds available as quickly as possible.

Under the Secretary's leadership, the Department has taken quick action to support higher education students from the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Colleges and universities were given immediate regulatory flexibility so students' educations could continue online. The Secretary also provided student loan relief to tens of millions of borrowers by setting all federally held student loan interest rates to zero percent and allowing borrowers to defer payments for 60 days without interest. The CARES Act extends those benefits to six months. The Department also stopped all federal wage garnishments and collections actions for borrowers with federally held loans in default.