CARES ACT Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF)

Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting for HEERF I, II, and III (a)(1) Institutional Portion, (a)(2), and (a)(3)

Always be cautious in providing personal information. View this article for more details, Consumer Protection Groups Say Financial Aid-Related Scams Using COVID to Target Students. For more details on student financial aid, visit The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA)

The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) released guidance related to CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEERF I, II, and III) funding to higher education institutions to assist students with unmet expenses as a result of COVID-19. Funds must be used to cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus, such as:

• course materials
• technology
• food
• housing
• health care
• childcare
• or other cost of attendance related item

The college has worked with the Tennessee Board of Regents system office on determining student eligibility under federal guidelines. Eligible students receive the payments through checks or direct deposit if they have bank account information on file with the college.

In accordance with the HEERF Certification and Agreement signed and returned to the USDOE, the institution will use no less than 50 percent of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students.

Payments to individual students will vary, in part because the federal formula allocating funding to each college includes a factor weighted toward the percentage of its students receiving Pell Grants. In addition, the U.S. Department of Education encouraged institutions “to prioritize students with the greatest need” while also seeking to ensure that these funds are distributed as widely as possible.

Disbursement Process

Any disbursed emergency grant funds will be released to students by either direct deposit or refund check, depending on the method the student has setup with the college. A payment is not necessarily a reflection of a student’s current student account balance, as these funds are disbursed directly to a student no matter if a current balance is owed to the institution.

Students determined eligible for HEERF payments will receive a confirmation email from the institution. A copy of the email template may be reviewed here. Please direct all questions to BusinessOffice@volstate.edu

Direct Deposit

For students desiring a direct deposit, banking information must be updated at least 3 days prior to funds being released.

The fastest way to receive your payment is through direct deposit delivered electronically through your bank. The instructional video below will walk you through how to update that information.

Refund Check

If your preference is to have a check mailed to you, watch the video below for instructions on how to update your address for delivery.

Payment Methodology

Spring and Fall 2020 Funding

Our institution determined funds would be allocated to the largest number of students possible due to impacts of COVID-19 related events. Following Secretary of Education DeVos’s guidance, Pell eligible students received priority funding. However, based on our institution’s determined criteria, certain non-Pell eligible students were also considered eligible for funding. Criteria for eligibility include:

• An individual must have been a student as of March 13, 2020
• Students cannot have been enrolled solely in an online format as of March 13, 2020
• Students paid must be eligible to participate in Title IV financial aid programs

Much of the funding is automatically disbursed to eligible students, but eligibility for students who did not file FAFSAs cannot yet be verified. We anticipate USDOE will release an option for these students to self-certify eligibility. However, affected students may elect to complete a 2019-2020 FAFSA at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa so eligibility can be determined. For more information regarding filing a FAFSA, go to https://www.volstate.edu/financialaid/apply.

Spring 2021 Funding

Our institution determined funds would be allocated to the largest number of students possible due to impacts of COVID-19 related events. Following Secretary of Education DeVos’s guidance, Pell eligible students received priority funding. However, based on our institution’s determined criteria, certain non-Pell eligible students were also considered eligible for funding. Criteria for eligibility include:

• An individual must have been a student as of March 9, 2021
• Dual students, transient or non-degree seeking students, as well as students enrolled in non-credit courses are not eligible

Payment Allocation

HEERF I (CARES) Payment Allocation Information

HEERF II (CRRSSA) Payment Allocation Information

HEERF III (ARP) Payment Allocation Information

Table is initially published no later than 30 days after the institution received HEERF funds and is updated regularly. The table below provides these dates.

Date Institution Submitted HEERF Certification and Agreement to USDOE