Open Letter to Texas Leaders on Supporting College Students During COVID-19

While the direct financial support from the federal CARES Act will be helpful to many Texans in meeting the challenges posed by COVID-19, many Texas students are left out of that critical support altogether. Direct payments from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (S. 3548) exclude anyone over the age of 17 claimed dependent for tax purposes. This provision means many of Texas’ college students who lost housing, jobs, and other sources of campus aid will not receive any direct support.

Though students may be largely left out of direct financial support, the CARES Act does include a $14.25 billion stabilization fund for higher education that will be allocated to states based on student population for use in assisting higher education institutional response to COVID-19 and direct support to students.

Texas PACE, in partnership with the Austin College Attainment Network (ACAN) authored a joint letter detailing 12 steps Texas higher education leaders and lawmakers can take both now and in the 87th legislative session to help college students recover from the COVID-19 crisis.