Colleges Offer Emergency Funds to Help Students During Crisis
March 25, 2020
The Boston Business Journal highlighted efforts by Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology and several other colleges in Massachusetts to create emergency funds, or bulk up existing ones, to help students pay for rent, transportation, equipment rentals and more during the coronavirus pandemic.
The article said:
BFIT president Anthony Benoit told the BBJ the school is in the process of obtaining about two dozen laptops for students with the most pressing need now that the school is entirely online. He added that the school is considering mini-grants to help with the cost of internet connectivity. Benoit hopes to grow the fund from “five figures to six figures,” to help more students.
“Going online and minimizing our presence on campus is the right decision, but some in BFIT’s student population struggle with housing and food insecurity,” Benoit said. “Many work hourly in retail and food service jobs to support their families and cover expenses. Many of these will lose wages and struggle to afford the tools to continue their BFIT courses online, even to afford basics like rent, food and medicine.”
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