Tag: edward waters college

“At least half of the funding each institution receives will be issued directly to students in the form of emergency financial grants to help pay for course materials, housing, food, health care, childcare and other essentials,” Lawson’s office noted.

The Governor made this announcement at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, where one of the new sites is located.

The program will be administered by the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Students from more than 20 schools, including Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach and Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, will be eligible for the program.

The schools are getting the funds from the $900 billion “Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act” which Congress passed last month and which then President Donald Trump signed into law.

In addition to FAMU, the first wave of schools to benefit from the foundation’s investment include Hampton University, Howard University, Meharry Medical College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Xavier University of Louisiana.  Up to four more testing hubs will be added in the coming weeks, the foundation noted.

The agreement is designed to support no-cost COVID-19 testing for students, faculty and staff throughout the 2020-2021 school year.

This announcement comes in advance of the 145th anniversary of Mary McLeod Bethune’s birthday, celebrated on July 10.

Lawson pointed to $29,443,491 headed to the region which were part of $1.4 billion for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and colleges and universities serving low-income students. The funds were part of the $2.2 trillion stimulus package approved by Congress and the White House at the end of March to help the nation during the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, D-Fla., announced this week that the schools will receive federal funds through the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act." The entire package sends $31 billion to schools across the country with almost $14 billion of that going to higher education institutions.

Lawson expanded on how the Farm Bill helps land grant universities and HBCUs, noting how $400 million of the $867 billion included in the legislation will help students.