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CARES Act Fund: Report #1 (30 Days)

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  4. CARES Act Fund: Report #1 (30 Days)

Santa Clara University (SCU), in compliance with:

  1. Section 18004(e) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which requires each institution applying for funding from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) to submit an initial report to the Secretary of Education within 30 days;

  2. guidance for compliance with the 30-day reporting requirement provided by ED on May 6, 2020; and

  3. communications sent from ED’s Program Officer on May 13, 2020;

is posting the following report in a format and location easily accessible to the public on May 25, 2020, 30 days after the date SCU received its allocation under 18004(a)(1). This report will be updated every 45 days after the initial posting.

  1. On April 15, 2020, SCU signed and returned to ED the Certification and Agreement (for) Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In doing so, SCU provided ED the assurance that SCU intends to 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.

  2. On April 25, 2020, SCU received $1,771,339.00 from ED pursuant to SCU’s Certification and Agreement (for) Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

  3. On May 1, 2020 SCU published information about the CARES Emergency Financial Aid Grants (called the “SCU CARES Act Relief Fund”) on its publicly-available website, and began accepting requests for this assistance from students. SCU began review of student requests on May 7, 2020. As of May 25, 2020, SCU has distributed $322,922 of the Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act. SCU provides students with notice of award status in advance and expedites the distribution of funds immediately thereafter.

  4. The estimated total number of SCU students eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is approximately 7,334.

  5. As of May 25, 2020, the total number of students who have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is 364.

  6. The method(s) used by SCU to determine which students receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants and how much they would receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act are as follows:

    1. In accordance with ED’s direction, SCU is prioritizing the distribution of funds to eligible students demonstrating the greatest need. SCU students requesting funds must have been enrolled in the spring quarter and are required to submit a request form on the SCU website certifying eligibility and describing claimed unforeseen expenses related to their costs of attendance (e.g. food, housing, course materials, technology, healthcare, childcare, and transportation) due to COVID-19-related campus operations disruptions. Student requests are limited to $1,500 in order to distribute the funds as widely as possible.

    2. Requests are reviewed individually: to confirm a student’s eligibility per requirements set forth by ED; to establish a student’s level of need; and to evaluate the claimed expenses. A student’s level of need is determined using information available to the SCU Office of Financial Aid, including, but not limited to: Pell eligibility, previously awarded emergency aid, expected family contribution, and student account credits. Claimed expenses must be reasonable, related to a student’s cost of attendance as enumerated in the list provided by ED, due to COVID-19-related campus operations disruptions, and must not be duplicated in other requests for aid reviewed by the SCU Office of Financial Aid.

  7. Instructions and FAQs concerning the Emergency Financial Aid Grants are provided to students on the CARES Act Relief Fund FAQs website. All students received email notifications about the program on May 1, May 8, and May 15. (See notifications #16, #17, #18 at COVID-19 Campus Messages. A separate email message was sent to all students on May 7, specific to the CARES Act Relief Fund. Any questions students have about the program may be submitted to OneStop@scu.edu.