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Colleges and universities that contract with online program management (OPM) companies to help them transition to online instruction amid the pandemic may be unable to have their costs reimbursed under the $2.2 trillion federal stimulus, according to a recent blog post from the education practice of Cooley, a law firm. But officials from the OPM industry say the provision does not specifically target them and is likely to have an impact on existing college partnerships and online programs.
The section of the law that restricts payments to contractors for "pre-enrollment recruitment activities" is part of its broader goal of preventing colleges as well as contractors from using stimulus money to recruit new students, the officials said. And the stimulus restrictions on recruitment obviously do not apply to students who currently are enrolled and plan to return in the fall. Likewise, the provision does not appear to apply to existing partnerships between OPMs and colleges, and the officials said OPMs can still use their marketing dollars to recruit students under those arrangements.
