The House approved the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) on Wednesday, handing it over to President Joe Biden for his signature. The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill seeks to address the ongoing health and economic crisis, as well as providing much-needed funding for higher education.
Apart from a reduced state budget allocation, colleges have had to deal with enrollment declines and other revenue losses as unprecedented costs such as COVID-19 testing kits, vaccines, and other safety protocols continue to increase.
Many colleges and universities such as Becker College, Wright State University, and the University of Vermont are on the brink of collapse and have announced their intentions to cut faculty members and programs as a result of budgetary restrictions. Massive layoffs among such institutions will disproportionately affect administrative workers from low and middle-income households.
American Rescue Plan
The rescue plan will provide $40 billion for state higher education alongside the $350 billion stimulus fund allotted for state, local, and tribal governments to pay down budget deficits. Relief bills from Congress have approved “maintenance of effort” clauses requiring state governments to fund higher education.
“In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the Department of Education for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $39,584,570,000,” the provision states.
A portion of the money must be used to “implement evidence-based practices to monitor and suppress coronavirus in accordance with public health guidelines” and “conduct direct outreach to financial aid applicants about the opportunity to receive a financial aid adjustment due to the recent unemployment of a family member or independent student.”
Congress has already passed two stimulus packages amounting to nearly $37 billion to help public and private higher education cover costs brought on by the crisis.
The first relief bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, provided $150 billion, with $2.2 billion allocated for higher education.