Puerto Rico Education Stimulus

Summary

Puerto Rico will receive education-related funding from the American Recovery and Reinvesting Act of 2009 (ARRA), through two principal avenues:

• $1.18 billion to be distributed through the U.S. Department of Education.
• $647 million through the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds.The governor of Puerto Rico can use these funds for "critical services", which can include funds to public colleges and universities and local school districts in Puerto Rico for financial aid and operating costs. The governor can also direct money from this fund to private colleges and universities in Puerto Rico to modernize facilities or for other purposes.

Puerto Rico Education Stimulus Breakdown

Higher Education Funds

The educational stimulus package includes a variety of higher education and vocational training funds and grants for Puerto Rico:

• An increase in 2009 Pell Grant funding of $246.6 million over 2008 funds. The 36,000 current Pell Grant recipients in Puerto Rico will receive an increase in the average award for the 2009-10 academic year from $3400 to $3,850.
• An additional $3.6 million for student financial assistance through grants to institutions to assist in the operation of work-study programs under the Higher Education Act.
• $109 million for Special Education Part B State Grants to help improve educational outcomes for individuals with disabilities.
• $23.4 million in education technology funds to purchase up-to-date computers and software and provide professional development.
• $385.7 million for Title I Education for the Disadvantaged.

Puerto Rico's higher education students and institutions are also eligible to apply for the following grants funded by the stimulus package:

Community College and Career Training Grants

An institution in Puerto Rico is eligible for only one grant, not to exceed $1,000,000, by demonstrating that it has reached out to employers to identify shortcomings in existing training opportunities within the community.

Teacher Certification and Training

Teacher quality enhancement grants are available to colleges and universities and eligible partnerships in Puerto Rico on a competitive basis.

Education and Human Resources

Provides grants for colleges and universities in Puerto Rico to attract math and science teachers, and grants to improve match and science in K-12 schools.

Health Professional Training Program

Provides funding for the National Health Services Corporation (NHSC), which recruits and trains health professionals to deliver health care in underserved communities in Puerto Rico.

Demonstration Program to Integrate Information Technology into Clinical Education

Provides grants to medical schools and medical related graduate schools in Puerto Rico to carryout demonstration projects and develop academic criteria integrating EHR technology in the clinical education of health professionals.

Education tax credits

The federal education stimulus package also includes the American Opportunity Tax Credit. This modifies the federal higher-education tax credit established in 1997, which benefited middle-income students in Puerto Rico by offsetting their tax liability. The new credit is “refundable,” meaning that lower-income households in Puerto Rico that have limited or no federal income tax liability can now receive a partial credit in the form of a tax “refund" of up to 40 percent of qualifying expenses for a maximum refund of $1,000.

Stimulus Breakdown (2008 vs. 2009)