Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announced over $58 million in emergency CARES Act funds to University of South Florida, University of Tampa and Hillsborough Community College. The CARES Act was passed by Congress two weeks ago to speed emergency aid back home for coronavirus emergency relief. Colleges and universities will be able to use these funds to provide direct emergency cash grants to college students and to cover costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus. Each institution must use at least half of their grant allotment to provide financial aid to students.

“Our Tampa Bay area students, faculty and counselors are working hard to continue classes and educational resources in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.  I’m proud to speed emergency aid back home to USF, HCC and UT students and our higher ed economic engines,” said Castor. “This includes much-needed direct emergency cash grants available for students. This will help meet their immediate needs and put us in a better place to recover as a community. I join our Tampa Bay educational leaders in working to ensure unmet needs do not derail the rest of the semester for our college students here in Tampa. In the days ahead, I will continue to work to secure more resources and investments from the CARES Act for our Tampa community.”

Allocation of Funding for Florida’s 14^th Congressional District:

The CARES Act, the third federal coronavirus aid package, provides nearly $14 billion to support postsecondary education students and institutions. Colleges and universities are required to utilize the funds made available today to provide cash grants to students for expenses related to disruptions to their educations due to the COVID-19 outbreak, including things like course materials and technology as well as food, housing, health care, and childcare. The CARES Act is a $2 Trillion coronavirus relief package passed by Congress and signed into law on March 27, 2020.