The coronavirus pandemic created an atmosphere of uncertainty for college students. Campuses closed down which meant students had to have access to a laptop and internet to continue their education, a new digital gap affected low income students. A lot of students left because they had other priorities. According to a Best Colleges article, national undergraduate enrollment fell by 2.5% in fall of 2020. Feed America states that 42 million people in the United States may experience food insecurity in the United States in 2021. In Lane County, food insecurity jumped from 13.6% in 2019 to 16.5% in 2020. People have lost their income because of this pandemic which makes accessing higher education a lower priority than feeding themselves. Financial help is now on the way for those who were hit hardest by the pandemic.
The American Rescue Plan, a federal stimulus program, is allocating $36 billion in Covid-relief funds through the Department of Education. Lane Community College is slated to receive $15.7 million of that with a little over $8 million going toward student aid. This is the third federal aid package that LCC has received, following $3 million from each of the two previous CARES Acts.
The CARES Act funds were only available to students who qualified for federal financial aid through FAFSA. However, LCC also received $375,725 at the beginning of 2021 through the GEER Grant, the Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund for students who did not fill out FAFSA applications. So far 242 have received $500 and Lane is still processing applications from this term.
The money from the first two CARES Acts was required to be split in half between direct student aid and COVId-19 monitoring programs. Mindie Dieu, the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs, stated, “That is easy to do on our campus because we have a student health center and they have been running vaccine clinics. They have been working really hard to get information out.”
She also stated that some of the money went toward a Reopening Advisory Team that monitors anything that happens on campus. They are charged with making sure that everyone is following public health guidelines. Dieu is very proud of how LCC used the federal aid money including accomplishments like the Lane child care center on campus not only staying open but reporting zero Covid-19 cases.
Unlike the first two CARES Acts, the American Rescue Plan has much looser restrictions. A student does not need to have a social security number to receive funds. That includes, but is not limited to, undocumented students, asylum seekers and students studying abroad. The money from the first CARES Act was distributed through a block grant to 3,220 students. Students who had already applied for federal financial aid were already on a list and the money was deposited right into their bank accounts.
Dieu said that there will most likely be an application process for students who need aid. Any student who experienced significant financial hardship due to COVID-19 can apply. As for the other half of funds, Lane needs a committee to decide how to spend the money.
Committees were created to decide what to do with all the previous funds and Dieu said that student involvement on those committees was key. Previous students who got involved were already very active members of the Lane community. Dieu is hoping that this time around the committee will be a more equitable representation of the student body. She wants students that don’t normally have a seat at the table to get involved and help allocate these funds.
Dieu believes the funds will be available soon, most likely after all the money from the previous CARES Act is spent. She is hoping to have more student involvement in the committee and if anyone is interested she can be reached by email.
