Washington lawsuit says DOE restriction on emergency grants for students is unlawful
A federal restriction on which college students can receive emergency grants during the coronavirus pandemic is unlawful, the Washington state Attorney General argued in a lawsuit this week.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act designates more that $12 billion to help schools respond to the pandemic.
At least half of that is for emergency grants for students, but the Department of Education said April 21 that students have to be eligible for federal financial aid to get the funding.
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Spokane, argues the agency didn’t have the authority to do that.
The restriction excludes students who don’t have a high school degree, adult basic education students and students who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, among others, the lawsuit says.
“As a result of the department’s decision, thousands of Washington higher education students who desperately need financial assistance have been excluded from the program,” a press release from the Attorney General’s Office said. “These are among the students whose financial survival and lifeline to higher education is most threatened by COVID-19, because, for example, they worked part-time to pay for tuition, health care and child care, or they did not have high school diplomas.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington did not respond to a News Tribune inquiry about the case.
Inside Higher Ed reported last month that the Education Department said in a statement: “The department is implementing the CARES Act as it was written by Congress. Of course, institutions are free to give funds from their endowment or other funds to students who do not qualify for Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund grants.”
Ferguson says there is no such requirement in the CARES Act.
The University of Washington is using university funds and private donations to give financial assistance to students who are not eligible for CARES Act funding, spokesperson Victor Balta said in a statement Friday. He said the school didn’t have a figure for how many of its students are affected.
Leaders at Clover Park Technical College in Pierce County said more than 500 of its students are affected by the guidelines.
“We are very glad to be able to distribute CARES Act funding to help relieve the impact the pandemic has had on many of our students’ lives; however, the Department of Education’s shifting guidance on the eligibility criteria has delayed distribution of the funds by creating confusion and extra work for our staff,” Clover Park President Joyce Loveday said in a statement.
The Clover Park Technical College Foundation has helped get students relief funding from multiple sources, Loveday said.
“At CPTC, we are equally dedicated to the success of all of our students, which is why we worked so hard to provide a $300 one-time cash grant across the board,” the statement said.
The Attorney General’s Office said there are 363,000 people enrolled in the state’s community and technical colleges. Almost 52,000 of them are adult basic education students “who are acquiring reading, writing, math and language skills to leverage a job, college degree or a trade certification,” and most aren’t eligible for the funding, the press release said.
Students with a below C average also are affected, as are many of the state’s 17,000 DACA students. DACA status gives those students, who were brought to the United States as children and are known as Dreamers, relief from deportation.
“(Secretary of the United States Department of Education) Betsy DeVos is unlawfully trying to deny Dreamers and other Washington students the assistance they need — and that Congress intended,” Ferguson said in the press release.
His complaint asks the court to declare the restriction unlawful, and to prevent the secretary from enforcing it.
Gov. Jay Inslee said in the press release: “Congress intended this aid to be distributed to all students struggling to cope with the COVID-19 emergency, not only those Betsy DeVos deems eligible for assistance. All higher education students in Washington state deserve to be part of our recovery.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Washington lawsuit says DOE restriction on emergency grants for students is unlawful."
