WASHINGTON, Jan 20 – Biden administration is offering $ 198 million to colleges and universities in the United States to help prevent COVID-19 and address student needs such as housing and food during the ongoing epidemic, the U.S. Department of Education said Thursday.
The wave of new funding, approved as part of the American Rescue Plan law passed last year, will be targeted primarily at schools in need, including community colleges and rural centers, the department said.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, in a statement, said students nationally told him how the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic had caused other disruptions in their lives that had affected their education, repairing their homes, food and transportation.
The extra funding “will go a long way in ensuring that students can persevere and successfully complete their undergraduate programs without having to worry about where they will get their next meal or whether they will be able to provide child care for their children,” he said.
The department has also released new guidelines to assist colleges and universities to assist students with the basic needs and other challenges exacerbated by the epidemic.
Cardona, along with his first wife Jill Biden, is scheduled to highlight additional support at an event to be held Thursday at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey.
The US $ 1.9 trillion Redeeming Program, approved in March 2021, includes $ 170 billion in tuition fees for a school listing organization. Read more About $ 40 billion has been allocated to colleges and universities, the department said.