UTSA refunding $10 million to help students during COVID-19 pandemic

By end of week, school will have delivered more than $7.4M in housing, meal plans, parking refunds

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SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas at San Antonio is sending $10 million in refunds to students to help with financial concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, the university announced Wednesday.

According to a press release, by the end of the week UTSA will have delivered more than $7.4 million in refunds for housing, meal plans and parking.

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“We recognize that many of our students and their families are cash-strapped due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Veronica Salazar Mendez, UTSA Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Business Affairs. “We care deeply about our students and hope that putting cash in their hands makes it easier for them to make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic.”

The press release said that out of those funds, $3.4 million will be sent to students who were living in Alvarez Hall, Chaparral Village and Laurel Village and another $1.8 million in combined refunds will go to more than 17,500 students for campus parking permits that they are no longer able to use due to the shift to online learning.

UTSA is also providing $2.2 million to more than 2,400 UTSA students who had Spring 2020 meal plans, the press release said.

Residents of two communities, University Oaks and Chisholm Hall, will receive approximately $2.6 million in reimbursements and will receive refunds prorated to April 1, 2020, based on an agreement between Campus Living Villages, which manages the properties, and the university.

The press release said the university has also fast-tracked the distribution of emergency aid from the federal government’s CARES Act to help students with food, housing, technology, course material, health care and child care costs to provide relief to students who have experienced job losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.


About the Author:

Ben Spicer is a digital journalist who works the early morning shift for KSAT.