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CARES Act: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund

Introduction

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or, CARES Act, was passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on March 27th, 2020. This bill allotted $2.2 trillion to provide fast and direct economic aid to the American people negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of that money, approximately $14 billion was given to the Office of Postsecondary Education as the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or HEERF.

Litigation Updates Applicable to certain institutions (Last Updated 9/8/2020)

Latest News (Last Updated 10/20/2020)

October 20, 2020: As noted in our webinar last week, the Department has released a final quarterly public reporting form for (a)(1) Institutional Portion, (a)(2), and (a)(3) funds available in PDF form here and Microsoft Word here. Institutions should use this final version of the form to publicly report. First reports are due to be publicly posted on an institutions’ website by October 30, 2020, covering the period from the date of the first HEERF grant award through September 30, 2020. Our post-webinar communication, which includes several technical FAQs regarding posting this new quarterly reporting form, is available as a PDF here. Additionally, more information, including information on other HEERF program reporting requirements, are available at our HEERF reporting page here.

October 7, 2020: The Department will host a HEERF Reporting Requirements Webinar on Wednesday, October 14 from 2:00 – 3:30 pm ET. During this webinar, Principal Deputy Under Secretary Diane Jones and Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education Bob King will provide an overview of HEERF grant reporting requirements along with other Department officials. We strongly encourage each institution to invite one of their financial officers/advisors to partake in the webinar as well. Update October 20, 2020: The recording of the webinar is now available here, and the PowerPoint slides from the presentation are available here (PDF, 1.58MB). More information is available at our HEERF reporting page here.

August 28, 2020: Revised Notice for the Student Share Public Posting Requirement for HEERF Grantees. The Department is publishing a revised Electronic Announcement (EA), originally dated May 6, 2020, that describes the public reporting requirements for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students. This revised EA, in conjunction with approved information collection under OMB control number 1801-0005, requires grantees receiving awards under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to publicly post certain grant information on the institution’s primary website as part of the reporting requirements under Section 18004(e) of the CARES Act. This revised EA maintains the same seven reporting elements, but it adds a clarifying footnote for reporting item four and decreases the frequency of reporting after the initial 30-day period from every 45 days thereafter to every calendar quarter.

Grantees posting a 45-day report on or after August 31, 2020 should instead post a report every calendar quarter, with the next calendar quarter report due by October 10, 2020 and covering the period from after their last 45-day or 30-day report through the end of the calendar quarter on September 30, 2020. The revised reporting notice is available in the Federal Register here.

Specific Program Information

Congress created several different formula and discretionary allocations within HEERF. Please click on the links below to be taken for information and resources for the specific program or distribution.

Institutional Resilience and Expanded Postsecondary Opportunity (IREPO) Grant Program Competition (FIPSE Competitive Grant)

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Grant Program (Formula Grant)

Redistribution of the (a)(1) Reserve

Student Portion

Institutional Portion

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)

Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)

Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP)


Program
(with link to website)

CFDA

CARES Act Section

Eligibility
(with link to allocation table)

Deadline

Grants.gov Funding Opportunity Number

Student Portion

84.425E

18004(a)(1)

All Title IV participating schools
Note: Students cannot apply for assistance directly from the U.S. Department of Education but should contact their institutions for further information and guidance.
Allocation Table Here

9/30/2020

ED-GRANTS-041020-003

Institutional Portion

84.425F

18004(a)(1)

All Title IV participating schools
Allocation Table Here

9/30/2020

ED-GRANTS-042120-004

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

84.425J

18004(a)(2)

Institutions that qualify for funding under the following programs: Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Part B institutions as described in section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA)), Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions (institutions named in section 326(e)(1) of the HEA), and Master’s Degree Programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (institutions named in section 723(b)(1) of the HEA)
Allocation Table Here

9/30/2020

ED-GRANTS-043020-001

Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)

84.425K

18004(a)(2)

Institutions that qualify for funding under the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978 or the Navajo Community College Assistance Act of 1978; are cited in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land Grant Status Act of 1994; or are designated as eligible for funding by the Bureau of Indian Education
Allocation Table Here

9/30/2020

ED-GRANTS-043020-002

Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)

84.425L

18004(a)(2)

Institutions that would be eligible to participate in the following programs: Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNH), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI), Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (DHSI), and Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (PPOHA) programs
Allocation Table Here

9/30/2020

ED-GRANTS-043020-003

Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP)

84.425M

18004(a)(2)

Institutions designated as eligible in FY 2020 for grant programs in Titles III and V of the HEA that did not receive 18004(a)(2) grant awards as a result of not meeting the requirements for the Strengthening HBCUs, HBGIs, HBCU Master’s, TCCUs, PBIs, ANNH, AANAPISI, NASNTI, DHSI, and/or PPOHA programs
Allocation Table Here

9/30/2020

ED-GRANTS-043020-004

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Formula Grant

84.425N

18004(a)(3)

Public and private nonprofit institutions of higher education that are eligible under Part B of Title VII of the HEA and received less than $500,000 total from HEERF (a)(1) and (a)(2) programs
Allocation Table Here

9/30/2020

ED-GRANTS-043020-005

Institutional Resilience and Expanded Postsecondary Opportunity (IREPO) – FIPSE Competitive Grant

84.425P

18004(a)(3)

This is a competitive grant program.  Please see the Notice Inviting Applications for information regarding eligibility and selection criteria.
Federal Register Notice Here  

Notice of intent to apply: 9/10/2020
Application: 10/20/2020

ED-GRANTS-082120-00

Reporting and Data Collection

FAQs

Contact Information

Have questions about HEERF grants? Email HEERF@ed.gov
Think an institution is misusing or abusing ED funds? Do not let CARES Act Funding for Schools and Students end up in the wrong hands. File a complaint online with our Inspector General (OIG) or call their Hotline.

ARCHIVED INFORMATION AS OF AUGUST 13, 2020


   
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Last Modified: 10/20/2020