Dartmouth will apply for the first half of its allotted funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, College President Phil Hanlon announced today. As required by the federal government, the funding will be used for emergency financial aid.
“Our students have needs like students from every institution,” Hanlon said during today’s weekly livestream hosted by Provost Joseph Helble. “I’m certain we’re going to apply for the first tranche of CARES Act money.”
The College was allocated $3,429,350 under the federal stimulus package and has announced its decision to accept half. The U.S. government mandated that this portion — $1,714,675, in Dartmouth’s case — must be “reserved to provide students with emergency financial aid grants to help cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus.”
“Dartmouth intends to apply (but has not yet) for the first tranche [of funding],'' College spokesperson Diana Lawrence wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth, adding that “[a] decision has not been made regarding the second tranche.” Lawrence added that “if [the College] do[es] apply for the second tranche, we would direct 100% of those funds to support students and student needs.”
“The first tranche of CARES Act money … by law … goes right to students, and we certainly have students who have these needs, and we want to be able to take advantage of this source of funding to deliver to our students,” Hanlon said.
While Cornell University accepted its allocated CARES funds and promised to use all the money for emergency student aid, many of Dartmouth’s other peer institutions did not apply for the funds. Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University have announced that they will not accept the funds. Harvard University initially intended to accept its funds, but later reversed its decision amid backlash from conservative politicians, including President Donald Trump. Brown University and Columbia University have indicated that they are still deciding.
The College has not announced when it will be applying for the funding, nor when or how the funding will be distributed as financial aid. The deadline for colleges and universities to apply for the federal funds is Sept. 30.
