White House Says Undocumented Students Can Receive Pandemic Aid

The Biden administration said on Tuesday that undocumented students could receive some of the $36 billion in emergency stimulus aid flowing to colleges, reversing a Trump-era policy that barred them from earlier rounds of funding that could help cover necessities.

Miguel Cardona, the education secretary, told reporters during a phone call on Monday that a final rule issued through the Education Department would not require colleges to consider students’ immigration status when determining their need for federal grants that could pay for basics like food and housing.

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A report published last year by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, an immigration advocacy group, estimated that 450,000 students enrolled in colleges across the United States were undocumented, and that about half of them were eligible for DACA protections.

Read the full article from the New York Times here.