College to Receive $3.4 Million Through Stimulus Package

East Central College will be allocated more than $3.4 million through a federal relief package approved by congress.

ECC President Dr. Jon Bauer said official word was given Jan. 15 that $3,471,107 will be provided to ECC through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act.

He noted that a minimum of $825,661 must be utilized for student aid, and up to $2,646,448 can be allocated institution wide.

“The allocation is a significant amount of revenue for ECC,” Dr. Bauer said. “Moreover, there are reports of the next stimulus that also includes funding for higher education.”

Dr. Bauer added that the CRRSA Act funds will be less restrictive than the CARES Act funds, and funds from the second stimulus package will be available until Sept. 30, 2022.

“Our general understanding is that the use of funds will be similar, but not quite as restrictive as CARES.”

“We have begun discussions about the best use of these funds as we move forward,” Dr. Bauer said. “We will continue to assess how we can improve our delivery of instruction and support services to students. As guidelines become available, this planning will be brought into sharper focus.”

The entire CRRSA package totaled $900 billion, with $81.8 billion allocated for education. Colleges and universities received $22.7 billion. That compares to $12.5 billion under CARES, and the legislation has a formula that is more beneficial to community colleges.

“I appreciate the work on both sides of the aisle to bring this package to fruition,” Dr. Bauer commented.

“I believe this is good public policy,” he said. “With input from those of us on the ground there was a collective decision on providing resources to serve people in an extraordinary time.

“We will use these resources—all of these resources—to benefit our students and stakeholders now and in the future.”