美国教育部周二发布指导方针，禁止无证大学生接受联邦Covid-19紧急援助，用于食品、住房和儿童保育等费用。
国会通过的关怀法案为大学生提供了大约60亿美元的现金补助，用于支付冠状病毒大流行期间“与教育中断相关”的费用。特朗普政府今天发布了新的指导方针，阐明援助将只给予那些被允许接受联邦财政援助的人。
虽然美国公民和一些永久居民属于符合条件的人，但成千上万的无证学生将不能获得援助。该政策要求学生必须提交或有资格提交联邦学生资助免费申请(FAFSA)。该指导方针没有明确排除无证移民，但它明确指出这些学生将无权获得教育刺激基金。国际学生也没有资格。
2020年3月26日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在DC华盛顿白宫新闻发布室举行的关于冠状病毒大流行的简报会上发言时，教育部长贝茜·德沃斯在一旁聆听。
美国社区学院协会负责政府关系和政策分析的高级副总裁大卫·白梅质疑国会是否有意将奥巴马时代的儿童移民延期行动(DACA)项目成员排除在外，并暗示该部门可能误解了该立法。
“法律中似乎没有任何条款禁止这些资金流向没有资格获得第四名的学生，”白梅说高等教育编年史。"我们对该法规极其狭隘的解释感到失望。"
在一份声明中，教育部的一名发言人坚持认为，教育部长贝茜·德沃斯只是在遵循联邦救济法。“关怀法案明确指出，这项由纳税人出资的救济基金应该针对美国公民，这在整个法律中得到一致的响应，”该部说。
4月9日，德文郡宣布将“立即”向大学生发放60多亿美元，以帮助他们支付大流行期间的费用，但现金迟迟没有到达接受者手中。根据Politico的数据，截至上周，62.8亿美元中只有600万美元(不到1%)发放到了校园。
面对来自教育领导的批评，教育部将矛头指向了大学，他们指责大学在提交获得资助所需的文件时“拖拖拉拉”。尽管教育部表示，截至周五，只有27%的合格院校提交了申请，但高等教育团体称该计划官僚且令人困惑。
根据刺激法案，教育部将根据符合条件的学生数量向大学拨款。然后学校应该把资金分配给他们的学生。
新闻周刊向教育署寻求更多意见。
TRUMP ADMIN BLOCKS UNDOCUMENTED COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM RECEIVING FEDERAL CORONAVIRUS AID INTENDED FOR FOOD, HOUSING
The U.S. Education Department on Tuesday released guidelines prohibiting undocumented college students from receiving emergency federal Covid-19 aid intended for expenses such as food, housing and child care.
The CARES Act passed by Congress provides roughly $6 billion in cash grants for college students to cover expenses "related to disruptions to their educations" amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration released new guidance today clarifying that assistance will only be given to those who are permitted to receive federal financial aid.
While American citizens and some permanent residents fall under those who qualify, hundreds of thousands of undocumented students will not be allowed access to the aid. The policy mandates that students must have filed, or be eligible to file, a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The guideline does not expressly exclude undocumented immigrants, but it makes clear such students will not be entitled to the education stimulus funds. International students will also not be eligible.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic in the press briefing room of the White House on March 26, 2020 in Washington, DC.
David Baime, senior vice president for government relations and policy analysis at the American Association of Community Colleges, questioned whether Congress had intended for members of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to be excluded and suggested that the department may have misinterpreted the legislation.
"There's nothing in the law that seems to preclude these funds from going to students who are not eligible for Title IV," Baime said, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. "We're disappointed at an extremely narrow interpretation of the statute."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Education Department maintained that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was merely following federal relief laws. "The CARES Act makes clear that this taxpayer funded relief fund should be targeted to U.S. citizens, which is consistently echoed throughout the law," the department said.
On April 9, DeVos announced that more than $6 billion will be "immediately distributed" to college and university students to help cover their expenses amid the pandemic, but the cash has been slow to reach recipients. According to Politico, only $6 million of the $6.28 billion—less than 1 percent—had been doled out to campuses as of last week.
Faced with criticism from education leaders, the department directed the blame at colleges, whom they have accused of "dragging their feet" in submitting the paperwork required to access the funding. While the department said that only 27 percent of eligible institutions had submitted applications by Friday, higher education groups have called the program bureaucratic and confusing.
Under the stimulus legislation, the department will direct funding to colleges based on the number of their eligible students. The institutions are then supposed to allocate the funds to their students.
Newsweek reached out to the Education Department for additional comment.
