Jill Biden returns to NJ, her birth state, announces additional COVID relief for colleges

First lady Jill Biden was in New Jersey, her birth state, on Thursday to talk of additional COVID relief funds available to community colleges.

Accompanied by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cordona, the first lady, a college professor, made her announcement at Bergen Community College in Paramus, just minutes from Mahwah, where she attended two years of elementary school as a child.

Community colleges and rural institutions with the "greatest unmet need" will be able to apply for $198 million in COVID relief funds through a grant from the American Rescue Plan program starting next week. The funds are part of a supplemental support program for colleges and universities — many of which serve low-income students and are still struggling to cope with the pandemic.

“Community colleges have a partner in the White House,” Biden said, greeting those gathered with a rousing hello and a casual “call me Jill” after she was introduced as Dr. Biden.

Biden holds a doctorate in education and has taught English at Northern Virginia Community College since 2009. She has continued to do so as the first lady.

Gov. Phil Murphy, his wife, Tammy Murphy, and Rep. Josh Gottheimer were also in attendance, with Eric Friedman, president of Bergen Community College, at a small commemorative ceremony in the college’s student center.

The guests signed their names on the walls of the college’s One-Stop center, which provides students with the support they need in securing tutoring, counseling and child care, some of the basic services that the $198 million can be used to help cover.

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Kezia Bomtempo, a student and mother of twin girls, spoke about how she was able to enroll full time at Bergen Community College because of a program that subsidizes child care during the pandemic.

“For the first time ever, I am a full-time student, and I am able to come to class with peace of mind," Bomtempo said. "It allows me to take full advantage of my financial aid and go home and see my 3-year-old daughters sing about Martin Luther King Jr. … What more can a mother ask for? This has changed the life of my family,” she said.

Biden talked of her experience as a teacher, describing the sadness of lost opportunities and faded dreams when college students drop out because of financial and personal setbacks — including a lack of child care. These are the issues she said the new $198 million in grants could be used to address.

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“You know, it’s hard to express what it’s like to have a bright, engaged student — someone who has so much passion and potential — fade out of my class because they can’t find a babysitter. It breaks my heart," Biden said. "For parents, especially moms, child care makes graduation possible,” she said, highlighting Bomtempo's success and Bergen Community College’s use of relief funds to provide child care.

Cardona continued with the American dream message.

“We cannot let the basic needs of students stand in the way of achieving the American dream,” he said, highlighting Bergen Community College’s debt forgiveness program, which discharged student tuition using funds from the American Rescue Plan.

Cardona encouraged the use of the $198 million as a "lifeline" to keep students enrolled and meet their most basic needs, through such efforts as setting up vaccine clinics and addressing housing and food insecurity. The money, which will be distributed in spring to colleges through a grant application process that begins next week, may also be used for COVID testing and mitigation and expanding programs that lead to “in-demand jobs.”

Bomtempo said her parents were undocumented when they were raising her, and she was “academically dismissed” because of challenges faced when she first enrolled in college. She now plans to transfer to a four-year university and become a registered nurse while her husband, a truck driver, works to provide for the family.

New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education was also released on Thursday to help colleges understand how best to use American Rescue Plan funds to navigate pandemic-related challenges.

The Department of Education also announced that nearly $5 million was awarded to six Hispanic-serving institutions to implement programs that will expand access to food, housing and health care for students. Additionally, public and private colleges nationwide are now permitted by the government to use data collected from students about their need for federal financial aid to inform them about benefits available to them. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data may be used to communicate with students about eligibility for programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and the Affordable Connectivity Program.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Jill Biden visits NJ to announce more COVID college funding