On May 7 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued FAQs on the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund and Emergency Financial Aid Grants under the CARES Act. The FAQ clarifies that aid, including emergency aid to college students, should be treated as a "qualified disaster relief payment" and is not treated as taxable income. 

See April 24 GCR Blog post about action by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the Association of American Universities (AAU), and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) to seek clarification regarding taxability of these grants.