The University of Central Florida is set to receive $2 million to help hurricane-displaced students enroll as part of a $95.8 million package to aid Florida schools.
The federal funding supports schools districts that enrolled displaced students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricane Irma and Maria.
UCF moved quickly to get the students on their feet in the weeks following Hurricane Irma, allowing them to enroll in late September and early October to finish their degree relatively uninterrupted. It took almost a year for the island to get back on the electrical grid.
Orange County Public Schools, who enrolled approximately 4,000 students, will receive over $12 million, the most of any county in Florida, WMFE reports.
“We read reports and we heard from our school districts that while these schools were proud to take in their fellow Americans from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, it was putting a real strain on their resources,” said Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy.
Murphy said an additional $75 million in federal funding for colleges nationwide will be on its way for displaced students.
Puerto Rican students gather for their first meeting of the semester
