Milligan College is set to receive over $742,000 in stimulus money. This money is allocated through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The bill will provide $2.2 trillion to help relieve individuals and businesses from struggles faced since the COVID-19 crisis according to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit specializing in independent tax policy. Nearly $14 billion of that will go towards college students and higher education institutions according to University Business magazine.
Over $371,000 of Milligan’s stimulus money has been specified as the minimum amount to be awarded for emergency financial aid grants to students.
Administrators across the nation are responsible for deciding which students will receive the grants, according to University Business, and the amount of money allocated to each school was determined by the number of full time, Pell-eligible students at each institution.
The Hope Center, an organization committed to supporting college students, has suggested the best way for institutions to award these grants and thus limit the disruption to students’ educations is as follows:
- Maximize equity by keeping red tape for students to a minimum.
- Maximize impact by ensuring that the application and distribution processes are quick.
- Maximize efficiency by imposing as little administrative burden as possible on program staff.
As for Milligan, Jacqui Steadman, the vice president for business and finance, has been researching the guidelines given by the Department of Education according to President Bill Greer. She is currently in the process of creating recommendations to be considered by Milligan’s leadership team when deciding on the distribution of the money.
“After the college receives the funding, we will be ready to begin awarding and distributing these funds to students. Our intent is to have the distribution of the student portion completed by the end of May,” said Greer.
Students can expect that this process, much like everything else during this pandemic, will take some time and is liable to change daily as new information is uncovered, but Milligan is working to help relieve the financial stresses of students as fast and as best as they can. More details are sure to come.
The entire bill can be viewed here.
Headline photo: Milligan received notice of the funding on April 9.