DENVER — When the federal government created the CARES Act, Danielle Holmes believed it was meant to help students like her.
"The pandemic has really hit the lower-income demographic extremely hard," Holmes said.
She is a senior at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Holmes was working on campus during her final semester when COVID-19 hit.
"Graduating and potentially looking for employment, the situation looked really bleak," Holmes said.
Her campus job was shut down and she says her financial challenges were mounting.
"I am currently on a housing program and also on food stamps and Medicaid," Holmes said.
In March, President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act into law. The $2 trillion stimulus package included the Paycheck Protection Program and other resources including funds for colleges and universities.
"MSU Denver has received a little more $14 million from the CARES Act and addition $1 million for Hispanic Serving Institutions," Will Simpkins, MSU Denver vice president for Student Affairs, said.
Simpkins said about half the money will be used for institutional costs. MSU Denver upgraded its technology for remote learning which was about $1 million. The Health Center received support and funds were spent to help the school deal with expenses related to COVID-19.
"We run a fairly tight ship in terms of our finances," Simpkins said. "There is no wiggle room and so that federal aid is making sure that we can continue to offer high-quality education," Simpkins said.
MSU Denver also spent around $3 million to pay student workers the wages they would have earned this spring semester if the campus wasn't shut down due to COVID-19.
"We've also heard from students that their parents have been laid off. They've lost work and that student income may be the only income flowing into that family right now," Simpkins said.
The other half of the money, around $7.2 million, will be distributed directly to students who apply for aid due to financial hardships related to COVID-19. Depending on their income, students can receive up to $650.
"The ability to help our students meet their basic needs whether it's housing, food, child care, transportation, those are critical ways that we can continue to keep the student in school," Simpkins said.
The CARES Act however did not include aid for students who are in this country illegally, a population that MSU Denver is proud to serve according to Simpkins.
"The Department of Education essentially barred on our campus hundreds if not thousands of students from receiving vital aid," Simpkins said.
He said MSU Denver then launched a fundraising effort to create a separate resource to offer COVID-19 support to students who don't qualify for CARES Act money.
"It's the right thing to do," Simpkins said. "We quickly ran the numbers and estimate that we need about $300,000 to support the undocumented students that we know of."
If you want to find out more about how to apply for funding at Metropolitan State University of Denver, click here.
Holmes received money for her wages as a university employee and qualifies for $650 in direct aid.
"For this amount of money to be given to me would mean that I could sustain myself until I get into grad school," Holmes said.
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