Austin College was notified by the staff of U.S. Senator John Cornyn this week that the college has been granted funds through the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (H.R. 748). The legislation allocates nearly $14 billion to higher education, including institutional aid and emergency aid for students.
Austin College will receive $1.34 million, with half that amount to be spent on direct emergency aid to students and the remainder for college emergency relief. College officials note that the grant comes with numerous restrictions on how funds may distributed, and staff members are working diligently to determine exactly how to best use these funds for the benefit of Austin College students. “While these funds will not cover the enormity of this crisis on our campus, it is important and historic that the particular needs of nonprofit higher education were recognized in this bill,” said President Steven P. O’Day.
“The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been staggering to many within the Austin College community,” said President O’Day. “We are among the many institutions across the country who are doing their best to cope with the challenges before them. We are grateful for the emergency aid dollars that will provide some badly needed financial relief to many of our students in this unprecedented time of crisis.”
The CARES Act provides a formula to fund each institution based 75 percent on an institution’s Pell grant student enrollment and 25 percent on an institution’s overall full-time enrollment relative to the national total. The federal Pell Grant program provides aid to students with exceptional financial need. The total $14 billion allocated in the CARES Act only partially fulfills a $60 billion request made by the National Association of Colleges and Universities on behalf of member institutions such as Austin College. Additional funding from future legislations could help with significant continuing expenses related to extended remote learning and disruptions to programming and enrollment.
CARES Act guidance specifies that funds designated for student aid must be awarded within one year. Information on the uses of funds for the remaining 50 percent of emergency grants to institutions is expected within two weeks, according to NAICU’s communication with the office of the U.S. Secretary of Education. Funds will be drawn down from a federal account set up for each institution.
Austin College transitioned to remote-only learning for all courses on March 23 and continuing through the end of spring semester. “We continue to respond to this ever-changing health crisis so our students can successfully complete the spring 2020 semester,” President O’Day noted. “The CARES Act funds will support our efforts to ease some of the financial strain and allow them to focus on learning.”