Minnesota colleges will receive $180 million from the CARES Act, the Star Tribune wrote Friday. Private universities in Minnesota are expected to receive $40 million in federal stimulus aid, half of which must be used on direct cash grants to students.

In an April 9 letter, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos explained that the aid will be distributed based on student enrollment. DeVos also said institutions will be allowed to create their own plans on how to use these funds.

Mark Vangsgard, vice president for business affairs and chief financial officer at St. Thomas, feels it is too early to create a plan on how to distribute the grant.

“While there are general concepts on the CARES Act out there, we need more information and guidance before we can formulate a process,” Vangsgard wrote in an email.

According to an FAQ from the Education Advisory Board, a research-based board that focuses mainly on higher education, the way that funds are used in the CARES Act can be largely dictated by the state government. The U.S Department of Education provided guidance to individual states on how education relief funds should be used.

These guidelines outline that states have forty-five days to report to the Department of Education how they are going to spend these funds. These guidelines also state that these funds are not to be used to support administrative salaries.

Vangsgard expects that clarification from the state will come soon.

“It is expected that the Department of Education will issue further clarification about issues related to the distribution and use of the student share funding in the CARES act sometime next week,” Vangsgard wrote.

Annie Terry can be reached at terr2351@stthomas.edu.