CARES Act: Texas Civil Rights Review COVID-19 Justice archive
Editor’s Note: Sec. 18004 of Title VIII of the CARES Act allocates $12.5 billion to college campuses.
As we have emphasized in boldface below, the text of the bill mandates that “Institutions of higher education shall use no less than 50 percent of such funds to provide emergency financial aid grants to students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus (including eligible expenses under a student’s cost of attendance, such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care).
See list of campuses and amounts budgeted per campus below:
CARES Act College Funding Breakdown (1)
As of press time (Apr. 17, 2020), sources with knowledge of the situation reported that the US Department of Education had not yet been released any of these funds any campus.
Sec. 18004. (a) In General.—The Secretary shall allocate funding under this section as follows:
(1) 90 percent to each institution of higher education to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, by apportioning it—
(A) 75 percent according to the relative share of full-time equivalent enrollment of Federal Pell Grant recipients who are not exclusively enrolled in distance education courses prior to the coronavirus emergency; and
(B) 25 percent according to the relative share of full-time equivalent enrollment of students who were not Federal Pell Grant recipients who are not exclusively enrolled in distance education courses prior to the coronavirus emergency.
(2) 7.5 percent for additional awards under parts A and B of title III, parts A and B of title V, and subpart 4 of part A of title VII of the Higher Education Act to address needs directly related to coronavirus, that shall be in addition to awards made in section 18004(a)(1) of this title, and allocated by the Secretary proportionally to such programs based on the relative share of funding appropriated to such programs in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–94) and which may be used to defray expenses (including lost revenue, reimbursement for expenses already incurred, technology costs associated with a transition to distance education, faculty and staff trainings, payroll) incurred by institutions of higher education and for grants to students for any component of the student’s cost of attendance (as defined under section 472 of the Higher Education Act), including food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care.
(3) 2.5 percent for part B of title VII of the Higher Education Act for institutions of higher education that the Secretary determines have the greatest unmet needs related to coronavirus, which may be used to defray expenses (including lost revenue, reimbursement for expenses already incurred, technology costs associated with a transition to distance education, faculty and staff trainings, payroll) incurred by institutions of higher education and for grants to students for any component of the student’s cost of attendance (as defined under section 472 of the Higher Education Act), including food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care.
(b) Distribution.—The funds made available to each institution under subsection (a)(1) shall be distributed by the Secretary using the same systems as the Secretary otherwise distributes funding to each institution under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).
(c) Uses Of Funds.—Except as otherwise specified in subsection (a), an institution of higher education receiving funds under this section may use the funds received to cover any costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus, so long as such costs do not include payment to contractors for the provision of pre-enrollment recruitment activities; endowments; or capital outlays associated with facilities related to athletics, sectarian instruction, or religious worship. Institutions of higher education shall use no less than 50 percent of such funds to provide emergency financial aid grants to students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus (including eligible expenses under a student’s cost of attendance, such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care).
(d) Special Provisions.— (1) In awarding grants under section 18004(a)(3) of this title, the Secretary shall give priority to any institution of higher education that is not otherwise eligible for funding under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 18004(a) of this title of at least $500,000 and demonstrates significant unmet needs related to expenses associated with coronavirus.
(2) A Historically Black College and University or a Minority Serving Institution may use prior awards provided under titles III, V, and VII of the Higher Education Act to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.
(e) Report.—An institution receiving funds under this section shall submit a report to the Secretary, at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require, that describes the use of funds provided under this section.
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