US colleges, universities seek $120 billion aid as COVID relief

With financial distress growing for both students and institutions in the US during the pandemic, and the additional COVID-specific costs not being mitigated by the decline in enrolment and auxiliary revenue, a large-scale crisis is looming. In response, a coalition of US colleges and universities has urged the Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration to finalise negotiations on a COVID-19 relief fund of at least $120 billion for higher education.

The letter, signed by American Council on Education and a 100 other groups, mentions that many states have cut their higher education budgets. It also states that over 63 per cent college students have experienced financial losses, and this, coupled with a 13 per cent drop in freshmen enrolment and a predicted 25 per cent decline of auxiliary revenue makes it extremely difficult for US institutions to function without aid.

These statistics aren’t likely to improve drastically, as the US is currently the worst-hit country by COVID-19, and till December 3 had recorded 1,39,16,543 total cases and 2,73,316 deaths.