Duke to receive more than $6 million from coronavirus economic stimulus bill

Billions of dollars are flowing into colleges and universities, and Duke is in line for millions.

Of the approximately $14 billion allocated directly to higher education under the CARES Act—the $2 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by Congress last month in response to COVID-19—Duke will receive $6,714,022.

The funding breakdown, which was officially published by the Department of Education, includes more than 5,000 institutions of higher education across the country. Schools will receive anywhere from tens of thousands to tens of millions of dollars.

The funding covers a broad range of needs for institutions, including Duke, and much of it is earmarked directly for financial aid to students. Duke's funding includes at least $3,357,011 to be awarded as emergency financial aid to students.

While the millions of dollars are meant to address universities' financial costs, Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, wrote in an early April email that Duke does not expect the funding to cover the University's needs. He wrote that Duke expects the eventual challenges from COVID-19 to surpass those from the 2008 financial crisis.

"We expect to receive some funding from the bill but whatever it is will be a small fraction of the real costs to the university of this crisis, both for the disruption to education and research, and of course for the health care that our hospitals and clinics are providing to COVID-19 patients from across the region," Schoenfeld wrote in an email to The Chronicle.

Duke's funding is similar to other peer private universities with similar undergraduate populations. Yale University, Stanford University and Vanderbilt University also received between $5 million and $8 million from the stimulus bill.

However, Duke's stimulus funding is lower than other schools in the Triangle. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State—both of which boast significantly higher enrollments than Duke—will each receive more than $17 million, while North Carolina Central is getting almost $9 million from the bill.