HEERF II – CRRSAA
The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA) provided $81.88 billion in stimulus grants to students and institutions through its Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II). Research Medical Center’s funding fell under Section 314(a)(4) of the CRRSAA, which instructs the institution to award all grant monies to students, specifically prioritizing students of need.
Research College of Nursing is reporting the information below in accordance with the Department of Education’s public notice requirement in the Federal Register post 85 FR 53802-May 6, 2021 update.
Per notice sent by Dept of Ed (DOE) Sep 30, 2021, Research is publishing their comprehensive report for institutional funds for all HEERF grants. Research distributed all HEERF I and HEERF II funds by May 20, 2021, and did not apply for HEERF III funds, therefore this is the final report for these funds.
View Research College of Nursing’s Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting 2021
Research’s signed certification and agreement application was submitted to the Department of Education on March 30, 2021 and the grant was awarded on April 5, 2021.
Research was allocated $169,268 by the Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education. Per language of the certification agreement, funds were to be drawn down in a way that minimized timing between requesting funds and payment. Student funding applications were received, went through the College’s award process (described in section 6 below) and set up for payment before the first amount of funds were requested on April 23, 2021.
$138,508 was requested in awards for 108 students on April 23, 2021 and checks for these funds were cut between April 26 and April 28, and sent out after confirmation of student’s receiving address. The remaining $30,760 was requested May 11, 2021 for awards to 27 students and 22 of those check requests totaling $28,871 were cut on May 17, 2021, with the remaining five student grants in process as of this update on May 20, 2021.
It was determined that all students at Research College of Nursing were eligible to receive funding, as well as students of Research Medical Center Schools of Radiologic Technology and Nuclear Medicine, as those programs report to the Department of Education using the same OPE ID as the College of Nursing.
135 students were notified they were to receive awards based on their perceived need (described in the section below). Awards ranged from $300 to $2,000. The average amount awarded was $1,254. All awards are being distributed via check.
Student application information was compiled electronically throughout the application period. Following the cutoff deadline, a committee of eight College administrators individually reviewed blinded personal narratives (with no identifying information about applicants) and scored them on a three-tier rating system of low, medium and high need. The aggregate of the scores was then used to assign weight to the requested amount and determine the final award per student, resulting in higher need students getting priority in receiving the amount they requested.
Per Department of Education guidelines that HEERF II monies could be used for any student’s emergency costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including school and personal costs, no directions on how awards were to be spent was given to students by Research.
HEERF I – CARES
The CARES Act designates funds under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) to provide, among other things, direct grant assistance to students to cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus. Students may use the funds on eligible expenses under cost of attendance such as food housing, course materials, technology, healthcare and child care.
Research Medical Center/Research College of Nursing (Research) submitted the Certification and Agreement form to participate in this funding program on April 23, 2020, and Research received the first half of its allocation under this funding program on May 7, 2020. The second half, the institutional portion, of the funds was received July 23, 2020. Although these funds were allowed to be used for institutional costs related to the pandemic, Research dedicated all of these monies to direct student payments.
The following information is provided by Research as required by the Department of Education (ED) in order to comply with the reporting requirements under the CARES Act. This is Research’s first 30-day progress report and represents information as of May 21, 2020. This information will be updated on June 7, 2020, which is 30 days after Research received its allocation. Additional reports will be provided every 45 days thereafter.
Per notice published by the Dept of Ed (DOE) in the Aug 31, 2020 Federal Register, updates will be shared on a calendar quarter basis starting with the period ending 9/30/20.
View Research College of Nursing's Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Report
Research acknowledges that the signed Department the Certification and Agreement was received by the Department of Education on April 23, 2020. Research acknowledges its assurance that it intends to use no less than 50% of the funds so received to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students.
Research is eligible to receive $91,737 from the CARES Act; 50% of which ($45,869) was released on May 7, 2020 for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students. The remaining $45,868 was received July 23, 2020.
Research began accepting applications from students for awards from these funds as of April 27, 2020. As of June 12, 2020, $42,619.35 worth of awards have been processed, with the remaining $3,069.65 still processing.
As of July 5, 2020, all $45,869 of the funds of the first half have been distributed. This is the final report for the student portion of the HEERF CARES Act funds.
The second tranche of the CARES funds totaling $45,868 was received July 23, 2020. As of August 19, $41,666.74 has been paid out to students. The remaining $4,201.26 will be processed for payment once student paperwork has been received and processed. As of Sep 30, 2020 checks have been written for the remaining institutional funds and distributed to students.
Final reporting for the institutional portion (PDF) is available here. This is the final report for the institutional portion of the HEERF CARES Act funds.
Research determined that all full-time and part-time students enrolled in Spring 2020 courses were eligible to be considered for Emergency Financial Aid Grants.
Research began accepting applications from students for awards from the first round of funds as of April 27, 2020. As of May 21, 2020, 51 recipients were awarded allocations totaling $45,869 ranging from $475 to $1,554.86. The second half of the grant was allocated to 53 students as of July 23, 2020, with individual payments ranging from $598.12 to $1,441.26.
Learn about the process Research used to distribute funds to students, which is consistent with applicable regulations and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education.
All students eligible to apply for awards in accordance with Research’s process (see answer to question 6 above) were encouraged to apply on April 27, 2020. A copy of the communication can be found below. No further instructions, directors or guidance was provided.