Canada Is Giving College Students $1,250 A Month. Should We?

A new benefit would provide Canadian students with $1,250 per month to eligible students impacted by lockdowns from the coronavirus. Those with dependents or disabilities could get $1,750 per month. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that students earning less than $1,000 would be eligible to receive this benefit from May until August.

As Congress considers providing more coronavirus relief and stimulus, should they consider Canada’s proposal to provide relief to college students?

When Congress passed the CARES Act, they sent checks of up to $1,200 to American families, reducing the amount for those earning more than $75,000 annually. Americans with dependent children were set to receive an additional $500 per child. The CARES Act also provided some emergency grant money to students, but not universally, as it is dependent on colleges to give out the money.

But Congress also excluded many college students from receiving the relief checks, as many are claimed as dependents by their parents making them ineligible. But their parents also didn’t receive the extra $500 per child because that was phased out for children older than 16 years old.

Many are already calling for more direct payments to families. Progressive Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (MI) and Pramila Jayapal (WA) have called for $2,000 payments throughout the crisis and $1,000 payments for one year afterwards. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Tim Ryan (D-OH) have a similar proposal that would provide $2,000 to everyone over 16 for up to a year.

Of course, a universal approach is easier to implement, but if Congress wanted to limit the amount sent to certain populations, like college students, they could send a smaller amount to those enrolled. Congress could also send more money to institutions to provide additional grants to them or to administer the grants directly since they already have a way to do so through the CARES Act.

For many policymakers, all options seem to be on the table. If Congress considers providing more direct relief payments to American families, they could consider something different for college students like Canada has proposed. No matter how they do it, it is likely college students will face unique obstacles as colleges are uncertain how the coronavirus will continue to impact higher education.