At the end of last week, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., announced more than $58 million will be coming to the Tampa Bay area to help higher education during the coronavirus pandemic.
Castor said the funds come from the $2.2 trillion stimulus package that the White House and Congress agreed on at the end of last month and will go to the University of South Florida (USF), University of Tampa and Hillsborough Community College.
“Colleges and universities will be able to use these funds to provide direct emergency cash grants to college students and to cover costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus. Each institution must use at least half of their grant allotment to provide financial aid to students,” Castor’s office noted.
“Our Tampa Bay area students, faculty and counselors are working hard to continue classes and educational resources in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m proud to speed emergency aid back home to USF, HCC and UT students and our higher ed economic engines,” said Castor.
“This includes much-needed direct emergency cash grants available for students. This will help meet their immediate needs and put us in a better place to recover as a community. I join our Tampa Bay educational leaders in working to ensure unmet needs do not derail the rest of the semester for our college students here in Tampa. In the days ahead, I will continue to work to secure more resources and investments from the CARES Act for our Tampa community,” Castor added.
USF will receive the bulk of those funds at $34,839,748 while Hillsborough County Community College is getting $16,262,267 and $6,941,444 is headed to the University of Tampa.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
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