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Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding

Overview

On 4/10/2020, CGU signed and returned to the U.S. Department of Education the Certification and Agreement, assuring that CGU would use no less than 50% of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Student.

The U.S. Department of Education allocated $147,554 in CARES Act Funding to CGU, which was received on 4/21/2020 and used as grants to students pursuant to CGU’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Student. The U.S. Department of Education has also provided the methodology used to determine each institution’s allocation of CARES Act Funding. The second allocation of CARES Act Funding, $147,553, was provided by the U.S. Department of Education to CGU on 5/12/2020. A third allocation of CARES Act Funding, $147,554, was provided by the U.S. Department of Education to CGU on 2/04/2021. A fourth allocation of CARES Act funding, $473,506, was provided by the U.S. Department of Education and made available to CGU as of 8/30/2021.

  • As of 5/09/2020, a total of $147,554.00 of Emergency Financial Aid Grants have been distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 7/02/2020, a total of $295,108.00 of Emergency Financial Aid Grants have been distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 7/08/2021, a total of $442,661.00 of Emergency Financial Aid Grants have been distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 10/07/2021, a total of $542,460.00 of Emergency Financial Aid Grants have been distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 1/01/2022, a total of $822,693 of Emergency Financial Aid Grants have been distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 3/09/2022, a total of $916,167 of Emergency Financial Aid Grants have been distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 10/06/2022, a total of $1,290,122 of Emergency Financial Aid Grants have been distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

 

  • 1,439 CGU students completed the 2019-20 FAFSA. Of the 1,439 students, 790 students were enrolled in at least 1 unit for the Spring 2020 semester and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • 1,719 CGU students completed the 2020-21 FAFSA. Of the 1,719 students, 974 students were enrolled in at least 1 unit for the Fall 2020 semester and 944 students were enrolled in at least 1 unit for the Spring 2021 semester. These students were eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • The U.S. Department of Education revised the eligibility requirements for the fourth round of CARES Act Funding so that students no longer needed to have filed the FAFSA/be FAFSA-eligible.

 

  • As of 5/19/2020, a total of 168 students have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to Student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 7/02/2020, a total of 286 students have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to Student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 7/08/2021, a total of 320 students have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to Student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 10/07/2021, a total of 352 students have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to Student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 1/01/2022, a total of 516 students have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to Student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 3/09/2022, a total of 527 students have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to Student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  • As of 10/06/2022, a total of 768 students have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to Student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

 

CGU Methodology for Emergency Financial Aid Grants under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act

Funding from the CARES Act HEERF program were provided to students at CGU in compliance with U.S. Department of Education guidelines, based upon the review and need analysis of applications submitted by students.

Application Review Phase 1
Applications for emergency funding consideration were reviewed by members of the CGU CARES Act Committee in two phases, on a case-by-case basis.

During the first review phase, applications were considered based upon the student’s eligibility to receive funding from the CARES Act HEERF program. Eligibility to receive CARES Act HEERF includes the following requirements:

Student’s Title IV HEA federal student aid eligibility: as determined by completion of the 2019-20 FAFSA for the 2019-20 academic year and the 2020-21 FAFSA for the 2020-21 academic year.

Student’s enrollment status: half-time status or greater in Spring 2020 or later semesters; enrolled in Spring 2020, or later semesters, but then approved for a Leave of Absence as a result of COVID-19 related disruptions

Students not deemed eligible for CARES Act funding (I-III)
Because not all students were eligible under the revised guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, CGU identified institutional funds to assist students who could not benefit from CARES funding, specifically for international and undocumented students. In addition, an annual gift account was established by our Advancement team to request donations to further assist CGU students who were not able to benefit from CARES Act funds (I-III).

Students who have been identified as not eligible for CARES Act funding (I-III) include:

  • International students
  • Undocumented students
  • Students enrolled in an online program prior to the impact COVID-19
  • Students not enrolled in an impacted semester (Spring 2020 through Summer 2021)
  • Students on an approved Leave of Absence prior to the impact of COVID-19
  • Students who have had no impact to their employment nor had any new/additional COVID-19 related expenses (I.e. housing, technology, childcare, healthcare, etc.)
Students not deemed eligible for CARES Act funding (IV)
As of the fourth round of CARES Act funding made available to CGU on 8/30/2021, the eligibility requirements were revised by the U.S. Department of Education so that FAFSA eligibility was no longer a consideration. As a result, international, undocumented, and DACAmented students are no longer excluded from CARES Act funding consideration.

Students who have been identified as not eligible for CARES Act funding (IV) include:

  • Students enrolled in an online program prior to the impact COVID-19
  • Students not enrolled in an impacted semester (Spring 2020 through Fall 2021)
  • Students on an approved Leave of Absence prior to the impact of COVID-19
  • Students who have had no impact to their employment nor had any new/additional COVID-19 related expenses (I.e. housing, technology, childcare, healthcare, etc.)
Application Review Phase 2
During the second review phase, applications were rated based upon an assessment of the urgency of the student’s need: urgent need, high need, low need, and defer to next round of review.

The assessment of a student’s level of urgent need for funding was based upon the following considerations:

  • Student’s reported level of food security (food secure or food insecure)
  • Student’s reported employment status affected by COVID-19 related disruptions (employed or unemployed, with consideration for students reported to have become underemployed by comments in their response)
  • Student’s reported amount of housing/relocation expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19 related disruptions
  • Student’s reported amount of technology expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19 related disruptions
  • Student’s reported amount of healthcare/medical expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19 related disruptions
  • Student’s reported amount of childcare expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19 related disruptions
  • Student’s reported individual circumstances as a result of COVID-19 related disruption
Determination of Need
The designation of a student’s level of urgent need was based upon the following criteria:

  • Urgent Need: student reported food insecurity along with unemployment/underemployment directly related to COVID-19 disruptions, costs reported for 1 or more areas of impact (housing/relocation, technology, healthcare/medical, childcare, individual circumstances)
  • High Need: student reported unemployment/underemployment directly related to COVID-19 disruptions, costs reported for 1 of more areas of impact or high cost ($1,000+) reported in 1 area of impact
  • Low Need: student reported total costs incurred up to $1,000 in 1 or more areas of impact
  • Defer to Next Round: student reported no cost incurred to areas of impact, but reported being affected by COVID-19 related disruptions

The CGU CARES Act Committee reviewed applications on a weekly basis and applicants designated as “Defer to Next Round” were placed on hold for additional review, in order to perform the initial and secondary review of new applications received.

Awarding and Disbursement of Funds
Applications designated as Low Need, High Need, and Urgent Need were awarded a CARES Act HEERF Stipend. The amount of the stipend was determined based upon the individual application’s review, including any amounts reported by the student on the application, in the range of $250.00 to $5,000.00.

CARES Act Emergency Fund Stipends were added to students’ financial aid packages and disbursed to their student account. After disbursement, a refund was requested to be processed for the amount of the Stipend, thereby providing the funding to students directly irrespective of any amount owed to the institution. Refunds were issued to students in the form of a direct-deposit, or “e-refund” payment to bank account provided by the student through the MyCGU student portal.

Communications to Students Concerning the Emergency Financial Aid Grants
In an email sent by the CGU Dean of Students on April 21, 2020, CGU Students were notified of the availability of CARES Act HEERF, the application by which students could apply for emergency funding consideration, and a contact email to which emergency funding inquiries could be made.

Students were notified of the status of their application based upon the following outcomes:

  • Application approved for funding
  • Application not approved for funding
  • Applicant did not complete a 2019-20 FAFSA (for the 2019-20 academic year) or a 2020-21 FAFSA (for the 2020-21 academic year)
  • Applicant ineligible for funding as an international student

Additional correspondence from individual students were received by the CARES Act Committee through CARESfunding@cgu.edu. Common inquiries included application review status and emergency fund eligibility requirements.

Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting

HEERF Quarterly Report 09/30/2020

HEERF Quarterly Report 101021

HEERF Quarterly Report 01/10/22

00116900_HEERF_Q42021_011022

HEERF Quarterly Report 04.2022

HEERF Quarterly Report 06.2022

HEERF_Q22022_071122

HEERF Year 2 Annual Report

HEERF_Quarterly_Report_10.22

HEERF_Quarterly_Report_01.23

 

HEERF_Q12023_041023

Statistics as of 10/7/21

Total Unduplicated Applications:  726

Applicants with employment Affected by COVID–19: 87%

Applicants who are currently unemployed:  58%

Applicants who are facing food insecurity:  52%

21% of the fourth HEERF allocation was been awarded and disbursed directly to students

Total number of applicants to receive HEERF funding:  391

Total number of applicants to receive CGU Emergency funding:  78

Total number of applicants to receive COVID –19 related funding:  469 (58%)

Statistics as of 7/8/21

Total Unduplicated Applications:  650

Applicants with employment Affected by COVID–19: 88%

Applicants who are currently unemployed:  56%

Applicants who are facing food insecurity:  49%

100% of the third HEERF allocation was been awarded and disbursed directly to students

Total number of applicants to receive HEERF funding:  345

Total number of applicants to receive CGU Emergency funding:  76

Total number of applicants to receive COVID –19 related funding:  421 (65%)

Statistics as of 7/2/20

Total Unduplicated Applications:  566

Applicants with employment Affected by COVID–19: 77%

Applicants who are currently unemployed:  48%

Applicants who are facing food insecurity:  41%

100% of the second HEERF allocation was been awarded and disbursed directly to students

Total number of applicants to receive HEERF funding:  287

Total number of applicants to receive CGU Emergency funding:  51

Total number of applicants to receive COVID –19 related funding:  338 (60%)

Statistics as of 5/19/20

Total Applications:  405

Applicants with employment Affected by COVID–19: 73%

Applicants who are currently unemployed:  55%

Applicants who are facing food insecurity:  39%

100% of the initial HEERF allocation was been awarded and disbursed directly to students

Total number of applicants to receive HEERF funding:  166

Total number of applicants to receive CGU Emergency funding:  34

Total number of applicants to receive COVID –19 related funding:  200 (49%)