Congressman Krishnamoorthi Press Release

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy which holds jurisdiction over the Department of Education, announced more than $1.26 billion in emergency funding for students, colleges, and universities across Illinois through the American Rescue Plan. This funding will help these institutions recover from the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic as they’ve continued to serve their students safely, while at least half the funding for each institution will be distributed to its students in the form of emergency cash assistance grants to help them combat hunger, homelessness, and other hardships. The funding to Illinois institutions is part of the American Rescue Plan’s $36 billion aid fund which supports nearly 3,500 public and private nonprofit post-secondary educational institutions across the country. In addition to these funds, the American Rescue Plan includes nearly $3 billion in additional funding which will subsequently be distributed to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), other Minority-Serving Institutions, and other under-resourced institutions.

“The future of our country and our economy depends on the success of our students, and that’s why I’m so happy to announce that colleges and universities across Illinois will be receiving this critical funding to continue their mission of preparing the next generation of leaders, even in the face of the pandemic,” said Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. “The American Rescue Plan’s emergency education funding will help our colleges and universities overcome the financial burdens of the pandemic, while more than half of this funding will go directly to students as they personally work through the challenge of this pandemic to continue their educations and build a better future for all of us.”

Additional information on national emergency education funding under the American Rescue Plan is available here, breakdowns for Illinois level aid are available here and here