The university will not accept CARES Act funding
Brigham Young University is introducing a plan to assist students enrolled during winter semester 2020 who have struggled to meet their basic needs due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. These private funds are being made available by the university. Specific instructions about how to apply for these funds have been sent to eligible students via BYU’s internal messaging service (YMessage).
BYU appreciates the support Congress has shown to institutions of higher education through the CARES Act. We are grateful for the concern that the Department of Education has for students and institutions who have been impacted by COVID-19. While funds were earmarked for BYU under the CARES Act, the university did not apply for this support, nor has it requested or received any of these funds.
BYU, like every private and public institution of higher education, has experienced and will continue to experience significant financial loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our students have also been affected. However, we believe we can assist our students without the CARES Act funds.
We also are seeing the financial strain this pandemic has put on other institutions, some of which may not be able to open their doors to students again without government relief. For this reason, BYU has decided not to accept any part of the funds allocated to our university. We have notified the Department of Education of our decision so that it might reallocate resources to others.
We remain committed to ensuring that our students can continue their education at BYU, which is repeatedly lauded as one of the best values in higher education in America. Thanks to the support of our sponsor, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are able to keep our tuition low while providing our students with an excellent education.
In addition to providing support through financial aid, BYU provides more than 13,000 student jobs on campus. We will continue to look for opportunities throughout this pandemic to assist our students, who remain our first priority.
