As colleges and students around the country struggle with the effects of the worldwide economic downturn, help appears to be on the way from the nationâ??s capital. And plenty of it, to judge from a draft of a massive, $825 billion stimulus package released by Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives Thursday.
Calculating exactly how much of the proposed money â?? $550 billion in new spending and $275 billion in tax breaks over two years â?? could (if enacted) flow to postsecondary institutions, and to students and potential students, is difficult because many of the proposals in the package lack detail. It would also be premature for anyone in higher education (or any other potential recipients of stimulus funds) to start spending it, since (1) budget hawks in Congress and elsewhere blanched at the size and scope of the package, (2) this is just the Houseâ??s version, with the Senate reportedly drafting its own, and (3) multiple steps remain in the process.