Local Colleges to Receive CARES Act Funds to Help Students During COVID-19 Pandemic

By Jeremy Coumbes on April 15, 2020 at 1:09pm

Colleges in Illinois will soon receive funding from the federal government to provide emergency aid to students.

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $218 million to Illinois institutions of higher education for emergency financial aid to students.

According to an announcement today by Illinois’ U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, the funding will be used to provide cash grants to students for expenses related to disruptions to their educations due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The funds are being provided from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, which was authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Colleges and universities are required to use today’s funding to provide cash grants to students to cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the pandemic, including things like course materials and technology, food, housing, health care, and childcare.

Illinois College will receive a minimum allocation for emergency student aid of $619,565, with a total allocation of just over $1.2 million.

MacMurray College was given a $338,828 minimum allocation with a total of $677,656.

And Lincoln Land Community College was allocated $1.3 million with a total allocation of $2.7 million.

Each college or university will determine which students will receive the cash grants.

Durbin and Duckworth say additional funding from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund will be provided to institutions of higher education in the coming weeks to assist with institutional needs and costs related to COVID-19.

Illinois is expected to receive $437 million in total from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.