Uncertainty drives stimulus spending decisions at colleges

Lingering doubts about how, when and if the demand for post-secondary education will rebound in the form of stable or growing enrollment is on the minds of leadership at even well-heeled colleges and universities. Review the article from George Washington University’s student newspaper this week:

“Experts said uncertainty over how campuses would operate during the fall semester delayed universities’ decisions on how and when they would allocate stimulus money.

“Anthony Bieda … said he was “not surprised” that GW decided to split the government stimulus evenly instead of directing it all to students. He said officials needed to allocate funding for institutional costs because of the University’s loss of revenue during the pandemic and the logistical costs involved with returning to campus.

“As an institution, you have all these overhead costs that are not easy to get rid of unless you start laying off or firing people and closing buildings,” Bieda said.

He said institutions should focus more on directing government stimulus money to students most affected by the pandemic, through grants, access to reliable services like internet broadband, personal computer lending and academic tutoring.

“The ultimate goal at the federal government level and also at the institutional level is to make sure that the pandemic does not cause displacement in students from participating in higher education,” he said.

Read the full story here.