Hudson Valley college students set to receive millions in federal aid under relief package

Students attending colleges and universities in the Hudson Valley are set to get millions of dollars in aid payments through the pandemic relief bill President Biden signed last week.

Two previous COVID packages enacted last year also earmarked funds for college students, but the amounts they are expected to receive through the American Rescue Plan – the $1.9 trillion bill passed with only Democratic support – dwarf the earlier funding rounds.

According to preliminary estimates by the American Council on Education, SUNY New Paltz stands to get almost $19 million, of which at least half – $9.5 million – must be distributed to students. The college will retain the rest to cover revenue it lost over the past year and the pandemic-related cost it incurred, such as for protective equipment and classroom modifications.

Helping students and schools

The council estimated the following amounts for other colleges in the region: SUNY Orange, $11.8 million; Marist College, $9.2 million; SUNY Ulster, $5.2 million; Mount Saint Mary College, $5.1 million; and SUNY Sullivan, $3.6 million.

In all cases, half of each college's funding must be reserved for direct student aid.

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SUNY Orange President Kristine Young said Wednesday she was pleasantly surprised by the new aid round. She said it comes as an enormous help after a grueling year in which the pandemic shrank enrollment and the community college's students, many of whom also work or support children, juggled the added complications of remote learning and job losses.

"I'm relieved for our students," she said.

The federal government hasn't developed rules yet for how that aid will be distributed among students and in what form. Young said the two prior aid rounds – each of which provided $1.7 million for SUNY Orange students – allowed funds to be applied to tuition, child care, food or other expenses at the students' discretion.

Young cautioned that no details are known yet about the new funding. Her administration just began learning this week the rules for how to distribute funding from the previous COVID relief bill enacted in December, nearly three months ago.

Jason Adsit, president of Mount Saint Mary College, applauded the new federal funding on Wednesday, saying it will help his college shoulder its pandemic expenses while extending a lifeline to students and parents who are in economic distress.

"Many of our students struggle to make ends meet under the best of circumstances, and the devastating economic impact of the pandemic has forced many of them to make difficult, heart-wrenching decisions regarding their finances and their educational goals," Adsit said in a statement. "These funds will help bridge that gap and provide some much-needed relief to the hard-working students at the Mount."

Michele Halstead, vice president for administration and finances at SUNY New Paltz, called the funding "a very welcome sight" for the college and its students.

"While there are many details to be worked out as to how the funding can and will be used, we are grateful that these funds will help support our students and fill the gaps in our campus revenues as a result of the pandemic," Halstead said.

Multifaceted aid package

The $40 billion in funding for American colleges and universities was one piece of a wide-ranging relief package that also includes direct payments to households; continued unemployment benefits; and funding for state and local governments, school districts, mass transit systems and airlines. Only Democrats in the House and Senate voted for the American Rescue Plan.

New York colleges and universities and their students are set to get a total of $2.6 billion through that legislation, Sen. Charles Schumer announced this week.

cmckenna@th-record.com