Forbes reported this morning that a U.S. District ruling will not permit the Department of Education to exclude certain students from relief made available in the Covid-19 stimulus package known as the CARES Act.
A relief plan was included in the CARES Act for community college students experiencing difficulty making ends meet due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Department of Education, led by Betsy DeVos, attempted to make access contingent on a student’s eligibility for aid under the Higher Education Act. This would have surgically omitted a significant fraction of students, such as those who are undocumented and students with low grades, according to the Forbes report.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers granted an injunction to the lead plaintiff, California’s community colleges chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley. “The judge found that withholding these emergency funds from certain students would cause irreparable harm and injury during a global pandemic,” stated the Forbes report.