No stimulus for students

Turning 18 is a trap. Especially if you turned 18 before the coronavirus hit.

Being 18 is that awkward place of legally being an adult (you can go to war but can’t drink) but not really having the skills or maturity to master this whole adulting thing. Frankly, anytime between ages 18 and 25 is weird. There’s a lot of stumbling around in the dark as you try to figure things out for yourself. If you’re lucky, you’ll have people to help you through it.

It’s already a strange transition period as young adults enter college or the workforce. And then the coronavirus hit. And it all got stranger.

College students across the U.S. had the rug pulled out from underneath them in March. Universities sent them off to spring break — and then told them not to come back. Classes resumed online. Dorms and apartments probably looked a little like Chernobyl: Suddenly abandoned and yet looking as if the people would come back at any second and pick up where they left off. Students took only the essentials, because family and friends weren’t allowed to come help them move out.

March is long gone and now so is April, and for some students, life only gets harder.

Many students support themselves through university. Maybe the student foots the whole bill; maybe family helps. But when everything stopped, so did students’ income. Full time jobs, part time jobs, federal work study, paid internships — just gone. And so few students qualify for the federal relief many other adults are receiving.
See, those stimulus checks only go to real adults: 24 years old or older or married and filing taxes jointly. According to Forbes, individuals younger than 24 can be claimed as a dependent by their parents — even if they aren’t actually claimed — and therefore aren’t eligible. Parents can only receive the $500 if their dependent is 17 or younger.

Such is the conundrum of being a young adult: Too young to be treated like a real adult and too old to be taken care of like a kid. Some students are lucky to have a network of loved ones to lean on — a place to go, someone to help with expenses. However, some have taken on all the responsibilities of a real adult — rent, bills, groceries, tuition, student loans — but aren’t getting the same support. And that’s not fair.

As part of the CARES Act — the same legislation that granted $1,200 to everyone 24 years old or older — WVU will receive about $20 million for student aid. Not everyone qualifies, and not everyone who qualifies will get the money they need due to limited funds. Those who are lucky to qualify will receive $750 (up to $1,000 for Pell grant recipients). When the average monthly rent for a one bedroom apartment in Morgantown is almost $600, a one-time payment $750 isn’t enough to get by.

WVU students who lived in the dorms will receive prorated refunds or rebates for housing and meal plans, which helps, but not everyone lived in university housing.

Congress forgot to protect our most valuable asset: Young adults. These 18- to 24-year-olds are our future. Some are mere days away from entering the workforce, some are already there and others are coming soon. Old enough to serve their country but not old enough for their country to serve them. They deserve better, and hopefully Congress will deliver — and soon.