CARES Act Notice
Monday, May 11, 2020
This is a challenging time for all of our HCU community. Please know that we are focused on the welfare and safety of our students, faculty and staff. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), includes relief for individual Americans, healthcare workers, small businesses and certain industries hit hard by the pandemic. The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) was created in the CARES Act and, as discussed in our April 1, 2020 notice, a portion of the funds will be disbursed to eligible students. The higher education emergency relief fund provides funds for enrolled students to be used to cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus (including eligible expenses under a student’s cost of attendance such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care). Institutions have been encouraged to provide grants to the neediest students. Noted below are details of HCU’s allocated funding related to the CARES Act and process for disbursement of funding:
- The CARES Act was recently passed by the U.S. Congress and includes Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF). HCU has signed, acknowledged, and returned to the Department of Education the required Certification and Agreement, which states that the institution plans to use no less than 50 percent of funding to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students. A sample copy of this certification and more information regarding the HEERF funding can be found via the following links:
- The HEERF funds were awarded by the Department of Education to HCU, with a total allocation amount equal to $2,615,603. The funds were made available to HCU on April 27, 2020.
- As of May 11, 2020, HCU has distributed approximately $128,000 to students related to the HEERF funding with plans to distribute another $1,180,000 to students by May 15, 2020.
- HCU has used approximately $128,000 to continue to pay approximately 260 students that were displaced from their campus job due to the closure of campus. A calculation was made of the average number of hours worked per week during the month of February to determine a pay period average number of hours. This calculated number of hours will be paid for each pay period through the end of the spring 2020 term to each student at the rate of pay on his/her payroll authorization for his/her position.
- The remaining amount of approximately $1,180,000 will be evenly distributed to approximately 1,150 students as a grant using a paper check or as a direct deposit into their bank account if HCU has direct deposit instructions on file for the student. The criteria for distribution was based on the lowest Student Aid Index levels with the highest amount of unmet need at the time of the campus closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Approximately 100 students received both the continued pay stipend and the grant.
- As of May 11, 2020, there were approximately 2,850 eligible students, none of whom were enrolled in an exclusively online program.
As more information becomes available, this page will be updated accordingly. We look forward to the day we can welcome you all back to campus!
“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may distinguish the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.” Philippians in 1:9-10