Harvard University shamed for getting $9 million Covid aid despite $41 Billion endowment

Chamath Palihapitiya, Chief Executive Officer of Social Capital, on Monday criticized the Harvard University for receiving an additional fund of  $9 million from the US federal government through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, when the university already has a gigantic $41 billion dollar endowment. Pointing out that the world-renowned university already has a huge amount of endowment, Chamath in his tweet said that the additional relief fund to the university is a 'joke'.

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About the federal govt. funding 

The US Department of Education last week announced that Harvard University will receive nearly $9 million in aid from the federal government through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The CARES Act is the largest economic incentive package in American history which was signed into law on March 27. It allocates nearly $14 billion to support higher education institutions during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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Harvard is slated to receive $8,655,748 and the US government has mandated that at least half $4,327,874 be reserved for emergency financial aid grants to students. According to a press release dated on April 9, the Department of Education will allocate the first $6.28 billion to colleges and universities to cover costs such as course materials, technology, food, and housing students have incurred which is related to disruptions in their education due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As of Tuesday, America has reported 792,759 cases, while 72,389 have recovered, 42,514 people have died. New York, the epicentre of the deadly COVID-19 in the US, has 2,42,000 cases and over 17,600 fatalities so far. It has registered a 50-percent decline in new cases over an eight-day period.

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