Wyoming college students will get aid
Wyoming college students will get aid
By Seth Klamann
Casper Star-Tribune
Via Wyoming News Exchange
CASPER — Students at Wyoming’s higher education institutions who have been affected by the pandemic will receive cash payments from the state, the governor and University of Wyoming announced Friday.
The program is more restrictive than one endorsed by a legislative and higher-education task force last week, which would have made payments to all U.S. citizen college students in Wyoming.
Gordon’s plan, which allocates $50 million for the program, would means-test the money, meaning it would only go to students who can demonstrate they’ve been adversely affected by the pandemic.
New and existing undergrad and graduate students at the university, one of Wyoming’s community colleges or “private or technical colleges” are all eligible to apply.
UW students will be eligible for $3,250 for the fall semester, which is generally in line with what the legislative task force endorsed.
It’s unclear how much other students will be able to receive; the task force had advocated for payments to cover tuition and fees. Students don’t necessarily have to be residents of Wyoming; they must only be attending a school here.
Last week, legislators noted that Colorado had allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to support students, some of whom were Wyoming natives. A Wyoming program, they said, should return the favor.
Students must apply by Aug. 21, according to the university.
The money will be tapped from the state’s large CARES Act piggy bank, a lump of money given to Wyoming and distributed largely by Gordon from the federal government that’s intended to address a breadth of issues related to the pandemic.
“In this challenging time, it could not be more important that we invest in Wyoming’s future by investing in our college students,” Gordon said in a statement. “Students who pause their college education often never return to campus. This is an opportunity to help ensure Wyoming students are able to continue pursuing their educational goals.”
The money will be used to “cover expenses other than tuition and fees, such as housing and meals, as the pandemic has eroded housing and food security” for students, UW said in a statement.
In the legislative meeting last week, lawmakers were told that the Attorney General’s Office didn’t believe that the payments could be used as a direct substitute for tuition and instead had to be designated for another, school-related purpose.
It’s the second such program announced by Gordon this week; on Wednesday, he said he was tapping $7.5 million to stand up a program to send adults to higher-education institutions if they were out of work or underemployed as a result of the virus.
Enrollment at the university is projected to crater this year, down as much as 20 percent, after record highs in recent years.
Community colleges are certain to have lower enrollment, too, though it’s unclear how significant those declines will be. The money will help to shore up those institutions, too; not only will they be hit with lower enrollment, but the state is preparing to gouge budgets because of significant revenue drops.
The payments are perhaps the most significant stimulus effort from the state to date, which has shelled out money to small businesses in particular.
It’s certainly the most direct injection of cash to a segment of the state’s population.
There’s ample evidence that the state’s workers — and their families — have been economically rocked by the pandemic. UW polling shows a majority of Wyomingites have either lost the jobs or hours, or they’re related to someone who has.
Money had previously been distributed directly to the university and colleges to help them offset costs associated with reopening in the midst of a pandemic. Millions were shelled out to the institutions as they require masks, retool and reopen buildings, beef up technological offerings and increase testing.
“This plan will help sustain and even grow Wyoming’s talented workforce, critical to the economic future we need after the current financial difficulties,” UW President Ed Seidel said in a statement. “ ... Postsecondary certificate and degree attainment is one of the most critical factors that will assist in the robust and timely economic recovery of Wyoming after the COVID-19 health emergency is over or adequately mitigated.”