DeVos Finalizes Rule Blocking Undocumented Students From CARES Act Grants

It’s been a roller coaster at the Department of Education since Congress passed the CARES Act and President Trump signed it into law in late March. After weeks of back and forth, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued a regulation Thursday that blocked undocumented students from coronavirus relief grants provided under the CARES Act.

The CARES Act created a fund of about $14 billion for institutions of higher education after the coronavirus closed most college campuses down. At least half of the money had to be used for emergency grant aid to students for basic needs expenses like housing, food, or health care.

In April, DeVos issued guidance that blocked undocumented immigrants from receiving the emergency grants, including students participating in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Department’s guidance didn’t exactly come out and say that, though that’s what it did in practice.

DeVos required institutions to give the CARES Act grants only to students eligible for federal student aid, which cut out undocumented students. Many other students were made ineligible by this move too.

But this wasn’t the first thing the Department said on the matter, creating frustration and confusion. The Department initially told colleges to get aid to students promptly but gave little direction. Colleges were leery to act though without a better understanding of how the Department might view their distribution of funds.

While schools were waiting for the Department, students were also left without the grant aid. The Department’s decision to limit what students could receive the aid came nearly a month after the bill was signed, even though the bill was meant to provide relief in the national emergency.

In that time, most colleges shifted to online instruction and closed dorms. Some campuses were even finished for the semester by the time the guidance was issued and before schools could give the money out.

It’s no surprise that many criticized the move. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) wrote a letter urging the Secretary to reverse the guidance, saying it went against Congress’s intent. Then the California Community Colleges sued the Department over the guidance, as did the Attorney General of Washington state.

Even the independent Congressional Research Service was critical of DeVos’s interpretation of the law, saying “The secretary’s interpretation is not a particularly persuasive reading of the statute.”

Then the Department issued a variety of confusing and conflicting revisions to the guidance. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators created a helpful timeline for all of the Department’s guidance, but one of the most confusing was the Department saying they wouldn’t enforce the guidance. This is just the latest piece of a dizzying saga during the pandemic.

Things aren’t set in stone, though. Earlier this week, this issue was in court after California Community Colleges sued over the issue. The judge in the case did not seem convinced of the Department’s arguments, according to some reports. It’s too soon to know how the judge will view this new regulation, but the lawsuits are sure to continue.