Institutions of Higher Education were allocated approximately $14 billion as part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund that was included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act signed into law by President Trump on March 27. The funds, intended to assist in preventing, preparing for and responding to the coronavirus, are to be disbursed directly to institutions using the existing Title IV distribution system.
On April 9, Secretary of Education Betsy Devos posted a letter to college and university presidents providing guidance on the required use of the funds. Included in her letter is a link to a Certificate of Funding and Agreement that all institutions are required to sign and return via the Department of Education’s G5 system in order to access their emergency assistance funding. The agreement can be found at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/registration.html.
The Department also posted the formula allocations it used to determine amounts, which include the total allocation by institution as well as the minimum allocation to be awarded for emergency financial aid grants to students. This information can be found at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/allocationsforsection18004a1ofcaresact.pdf
Institutions must use at least 50% of the funds to provide students with emergency financial aid grants to help cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations as a result of the coronavirus. Additional guidance on these requirements is expected to be forthcoming.
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