Camden County College To Get $22M Under American Rescue Plan

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Camden County College will receive $22,665,993 as part of the $10 billion New Jersey received under President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan, Rep. Donald Norcross (D-1) announced Thursday morning.

Half of that money has to go directly to Camden County College students, in the form of emergency-cash assistance grants to students in need, Norcross said.

Norcross voted for the American Rescue Plan, saying it was “about saving lives and livelihoods.” The funding will help local institutions cope with the severe financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue serving their students safely.

“The success of our local colleges and universities is critical to the success of our students and to strengthening our community,” said Norcross, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee. “The American Rescue Plan makes a historic investment that will secure the future of these valued institutions and provide struggling students with urgent relief that will allow them to stay on track and complete their education. In Congress, I worked to deliver this critical support for institutions of higher education, and I applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for its relentless focus on defeating the pandemic and building back a better economy every American.”

Rutgers University, which includes a campus in Camden, will receive $147,821,278 under the plan, Norcross said. Rowan University in Glassboro will receive $40,808,150, and Rowan College of South Jersey in Gloucester County will receive $22,347,961.

Students should contact their institutions for more information about how they can apply for an emergency grant.

The American Rescue Plan, known as the second COVID stimulus, is the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package passed under President Biden in March of this year. It was a controversial and deeply partisan bill: Not one single Republican lawmaker in the U.S. House or Senate voted for the rescue package and that includes New Jersey's two Republican Congressmen, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ4) and Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ2).

But the second COVID stimulus bill was backed by nearly all Democratic lawmakers.

This is the same rescue plan that gave at least $1,400 stimulus payments to most U.S. taxpayers (many Americans got more than $1,400) and extended the unemployment benefits to September, plus gave an additional $300 per unemployment check.

In December 2020, President Trump signed the first COVID stimulus bill, the $900 billion package that included $600 checks.

The American Rescue Plan gave counties and towns across the United States and New Jersey billions of dollars in unprecedented new federal funding, all meant to stem financial losses from the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here: See What Each NJ Town Is Getting From COVID Relief Law

In total, the American Rescue Plan provides $36 billion for nearly 3,500 nonprofit colleges and universities across the U.S. The funding will help colleges and universities cope with the severe financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Norcross said.

“My colleagues and I heard the concerns of Americans and fought for resources to keep fire, police, sanitation workers and teachers on the job, including an estimated $374 million for the South Jersey towns and counties in our district, as well as resources for schools to safely open and operate, including an estimated $236 million for our local schools and over $250 million for the county colleges and universities in our region,” Norcross said. In addition, this package invests in our food banks and greatly expands the Child Tax Credit to help lift millions of American children out of poverty. We have a responsibility to protect the health and well-being of our families and neighbors and today help is on the way.”

To read more about emergency education funding under the American Rescue Plan, click here.