Billions

From Inside Higher Ed: Eighty-four higher education organizations signed and sent a letter Friday to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reiterating a request for an additional $46.6 billion for institutions and their students to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

A first letter, signed by 40 organizations, that detailed the request was sent April 9. Institutions were given roughly $14 billion from Congress by the CARES Act, passed in March, with roughly $6 billion required to be given directly to students in need.

"Recent surveys conducted by several higher education associations indicate that the $46.6 billion estimate is far lower than the actual impact will be," this week's letter said. "For example, in one such survey three-quarters of institutions reported total current-year revenue losses of up to 20 percent, while a smaller percentage, roughly 5 percent, reported even higher losses."

Authors of the letter reiterated their belief that direct distribution to institutions would be most effective...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/06/01/higher-ed-groups-ask-congress-billions

Note: UC campuses including UCLA are members of the American Council on Education (ACE), one of the organizations signing the letter.