On March 27, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) was passed into law to provide economic relief for American families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CARES Act was created to provide financial assistance to many different areas of societal infrastructure, including universities across the country. LSU received $9.44 million to distribute among its students. Distribution was based on the students’ 2019-2020 Free Application for Federal Student Aid which was based on tax information from 2017.
Is this really fair? Everyone was financially impacted by the pandemic. Many college students did not qualify for stimulus checks because they were still listed as dependents on their parents’ taxes. Some were also unable to receive unemployment checks because they did not meet the requirements. If the CARES Act was the only aid the government could hand out, why was it so unfairly distributed?
Personally, I received $250. I know some students who did not receive a dime and others who received nearly $1000. I’m not saying the aid was insufficient for some students. It simply isn’t fair to base distribution on tax forms from 2017 during a pandemic taking place in 2020.
To put this situation in context, let’s say my family was considered a high-income family in 2017, but both my parents lost their jobs due to the pandemic. I would probably not be eligible for CARES Act aid because of my previous high-income status from 2017.
I might have been rich then, but a lot changes in three years. The government should have taken this into account and released a form for students to fill out with their updated financial information.
The CARES Act was a one-time supplement of aid for students, but there’s always more that could be done, more leniency the University could provide its students. Why do universities feel like they are doing enough when most are doing less than the bare minimum right now?
Universities are not making tuition and fees feasible during the economic disarray the pandemic has caused. They aren’t providing enough emotional support for students. Releasing statements on campus safety and dispersing CARES Act funds is the bare minimum when there is so much more the University could be doing to support its community.
College students are a part of a financially challenged demographic in America. Tuition rates are sky-high, and, on top of work and school, we now have to deal with the stress of living through a pandemic.
But does the administration care? Did the legislators who wrote and passed the CARES act care? Clearly, not enough.
Tamia Southall is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from New Orleans.