Pres-elect Proposes Additional COVID-19 Relief
Yesterday, President-elect Biden released the outline of a new $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal. Within the higher education realm, an additional $35 billion is included for public universities and colleges. The allocation provided to an institution would be split with students, similar to previous COVID-19 relief packages, allowing up to $1700 per individual. Taken together with the $22.7 billion just provided to institutions of higher education in the recent phase IV COVID-19 relief package, if successful, the new support would bring public colleges and universities to roughly half of the estimated need.
President-elect Biden also indicated that he will soon release a Build Back Better Recovery Plan, which will include infrastructure investments intended to also boost the economy. The plan could take a similar approach to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which included significant resources for research and student aid.