Citrus College will receive $7.4 million in aid through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Securities Act, Claudette Dain the vice president of finance and administrative services said.
“50 percent of this allocation, $3.7 million is required to be paid directly to eligible students and the remaining 50 percent is an institutional allocation,” Dain said. “The student portion is intended to cover personal and educational expenses for additional costs related to course materials, technology, food, housing, health care and childcare.”
In an email, Dain said the remaining $3.7 million is the institutional portion of funds directed toward expanding remote learning programs, building IT capacity and training faculty effectively to perform in a remote learning environment.
The Department of Education’s website said Congress set aside approximately $14.25 billion of the $30.75 billion through the CARES Act for institutions of higher education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. About four to five thousand institutions fall under the category of higher learning institutions, including community colleges, CSU’s and U.C.’s.
The Department said they will award the grants to institutions of higher education based on a formula specified in the legislation.
$12.5 billion will be distributed across that sector and the remaining share will be directed to minority-serving institutions, a majority being in community colleges.
An article by Dan Bauman, from The Chronicle of Higher Education shows how much of the $12.5 billion each college is in line to receive in a table. Half of each institution’s total grant amount is for emergency student aid represented. A portion of the aid will be distributed “immediately,” the Department said in a news release on April 9.
This graph illustrates the amount of funds 38 different institutions in California will receive. The graph shows schools that are receiving $1 million and higher through the CARES Act. The bar in red shows Citrus College receiving a total allocation of $7,429, 415.
Bar chart by Ryan Uribe
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos sent a letter to congress in response to where the taxpayer funds shouldn’t go.
“Wealthy institutions that do not primarily serve low-income students do not need or deserve additional taxpayer funds and that it is important for congress to change the law, to make sure no more taxpayer funds go to elite, wealthy institutions,” DeVos said.
At this time there is no definitive date for when these funds will be disbursed or resources about which students are eligible. For more information contact the Financial Aid department as they will be in charge of the distribution.
“What is certain is that students need to have FAFSA on file for any type of aid to be distributed to them,” the Financial Aid department said.
For more information on the CARES Act and its impact on education visit the Department of Education website at CARES Act: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.
This is a developing story. More information can be found through your Citrus College email or email the financial aid department at finacialaid@citruscollege.edu.
