WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) announced nearly $210 million in emergency funding for colleges, universities, and students in Massachusetts’ 7^th Congressional District under the American Rescue Plan. The funding will help local institutions cope with the severe financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue serving their students safely. At least half of the funding each institution receives will be distributed in the form of emergency cash assistance grants to students who are facing hunger, homelessness, and other hardship.

The American Rescue Plan provides $36 billion for nearly 3,500 public and private, nonprofit colleges and universities nationwide.

“This pandemic has taken an unprecedented toll on communities in the Massachusetts 7th, and our students and local colleges are no exception,” said Rep. Pressley. “This emergency funding, awarded through the American Rescue Plan, will provide millions in critical relief to help mitigate the devastating impact of COVID-19 on higher education in the Commonwealth and allow our students—particularly our most vulnerable—to continue their education as safely and affordably as possible. I urge students who are eligible to apply for this emergency assistance immediately.”

The colleges and universities in the Massachusetts 7th receiving funding under the American Rescue Plan include:

• Berklee College of Music – $9,695,023
• Boston University – $41,878,778
• Curry College – $5,363,388
• Emerson College – $6,880,112
• Emmanuel College – $4,562,311
• Fisher College – $2,225,329
• Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology – $2,206,457
• Harvard University – $25,261,575
• Lesley University – $6,234,875
• The New England College of Optometry – $378,239
• MCPHS University – $12,350,139
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology – $12,864,936
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design – $4,305,732
• New England Conservatory of Music – $937,879
• Northeastern University – $34,135,498
• Simmons University – $5,419,899
• Saint John’s Seminary – $106,879
• Suffolk University – $13,103,048
• Tufts University – $12,052,727
• Wentworth Institute of Technology – $9,594,375

Students should contact their institutions for more information about how they can apply for an emergency grant.

The American Rescue Plan also includes nearly $3 billion in additional funding – which will be distributed at a later date–for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), other Minority-Serving Institutions, and other under-resourced institutions.

To read more about emergency education funding under the American Rescue Plan, click here.

# # #