Maryland congressional delegation: State’s HBCUs will get more than $44M in additional aid during coronavirus pandemic
The Maryland congressional delegation announced Tuesday that more than $46 million in additional funding is being released to mostly historically black colleges and universities to help relieve the financial strain that the coronavirus left on institutions.
The delegation, which included U.S. Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, said $44 million will go to HBCUs. The remaining $2 million will be awarded to minority-serving institutions and colleges serving large populations of low-income students. Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John P. Sarbanes, Andy Harris, Anthony G. Brown, Jamie B. Raskin and David Trone also helped with the funding.
The additional aid will supplement the previous $170 million many of these universities and colleges received, the delegation said in a news release.
Morgan State University is receiving over $19 million and Bowie State University nearly $13 million. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Coppin State University are also receiving about $8 million and $4 million, respectively.
Nine community colleges are receiving a little over $1 million, and there is about $600,000 for public and private nonprofit schools.
“Maryland’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, and community colleges serving high populations of low-income students play a critically important role in our communities,” the delegation said in the release. “We fought to obtain dedicated assistance to ensure that they have the resources to make it through this challenging time. This federal funding will help these institutions continue to educate and serve the needs of their students.”
Congress set aside more than $1 billion out of the entire $14.25 billion higher education relief funding through the CARES Act for HBCUs and MSIs, the release said.
Schools can use the funding to help cover attendance costs for students, technology and faculty and staff training. It can also help cover operational costs including lost revenue, reimbursements for prior expenses and payroll.
