On April 14, 2020, Edison State Community College signed and submitted the CARES Act HEERF I Application and Certificate of Agreement. On April 22, 2020, the students’ share of the HEERF funds became available.

On April 9, 2020, Edison State Community College received notification from Secretary of Education Betsy Devos that Edison State would receive CARES Act HEERF I fund allocation of $1,229,604, of which no less than $614,802, must be distributed to eligible students as emergency grants for the disruption of campus operations due to the COVID pandemic. 

Total CARES HEERF I Awarded as of 11.12.2020:  $611,502
Remaining Balance:  $3,300

The CARES Act HEERF I mandated that only students who are or could be eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), may receive emergency financial aid grants. If a student has filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), then the student has demonstrated eligibility to participate in programs under Section 484 the HEA. The criteria to participate in programs under Section 484 of the HEA include but are not limited to the following: U.S. citizenship or eligible noncitizen; a valid Social Security number; registration with Selective Service (if the student is male); a high school diploma, GED, or completion of high school in an approved homeschool setting; be enrolled in a Title IV eligible program; meet Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for Title IV aid; and not have an outstanding overpayment or be in default on any prior Title IV aid. The CARES Act HEERF I also dictated that students who were already enrolled in all online classes in the Spring 2020 term were not eligible for emergency funds. International students were also not eligible.   

The Edison State Community College CARES Act Committee determined that a total of 808 students during the Spring 2020 term were eligible based on DOE specified criteria, with potentially 266 eligible students if their FAFSA was received. For the Summer 2020, 232 new students where determined to be eligible that did not receive funding in the spring term. For the Fall 2020 term, 517 new students were determined as eligible that did not receive funding in either the spring or summer terms. 

On April 28, 2020, Edison State Community College issued the first disbursement of $500 emergency grant funds to 490 Tier 1 students (enrolled in all on-site classes prior to COVID) totaling $245,000, and $300 emergency grant funds to 318 Tier 2 student (combination of on-site and online classes prior to COVID) totaling $95,400. By the end of the Spring 2020 term, on May 23, 2020, Edison State disbursed an additional $78,245 in CARES Act HEERF I funds to needy students.

The Summer 2020 term classes were entirely online due to the campus remaining closed due to COVID. On June 6, 2020, Edison State disbursed $67,500 to summer enrolled students. By the end of the summer term, Edison State had disbursed a total of $85,050 to 232 new students who had not received funding in the spring term.  

Due to the COVID pandemic concerns, the Fall 2020 semester had online classes and a small percentage of hybrid classes where students would be on campus only periodically after being screened. With $113,807 of our initial allocation of $614,802 CARES Act Emergency Relief Funding for students, Edison State elected to award $220 individual CARES grant awards to 517 new students who had not received funding in the spring OR summer terms, totaling $113,740.  

The President’s Cabinet at Edison State Community College, immediately established an internal CARES Act Committee to review all information released from the Department of Education on the governance of the CARES Act HEERF I funds, student eligibility requirements, methods and timeframe of disbursements. All students enrolled in the Spring 2020 term that had a valid FAFSA on file and met all other Title IV criteria were assigned tiers of eligibility based on the following: 

Tier 1:  Enrolled in all on-site classes at the time of campus disruption
Tier 2:  Enrolled in a combination of on-site and online classes prior to disruption

Students that were enrolled in all online classes were not eligible. Students that did not have a valid FAFSA on file were not eligible in the Spring 2020 term.  

Due to the COVID pandemic and national emergency continuing through the Summer 2020 term, our methodology to award HEERF funds changed with additional flexibilities afforded by the DOE. With all summer classes being help online due to the pandemic, Edison Stated awarded flat $300 awards to any eligible student (i.e. Title IV eligible based on prior criteria) that had not received emergency funds in the spring term. Students were still allowed to apply for additional funding if they had financial need.  

With the initial CARES Act HEERF I student share of funds greatly depleted, the committee elected to award flat $220 awards to any student enrolled in fall term that had not received funding in the previous spring or summer terms. Applications for additional funding were rescinded.  

The Edison State Community College CARES Act Committee notified all eligible students that they also had the option of submitting an internal CARES Grant Application in order to apply for additional CARES Act HEERF grant funds if they had expenses in excess of their initial tier awards caused by the disruption of campus operations due to the COVID crisis. The primary usage of HEERF funds was for transitioning from an on-site, in-person learning environment to an online, virtual learning environment via the purchase of personal laptops, internet service, printers and other remote learning expenses. Other expenses such as assistance to cover housing, utilities, childcare, healthcare, etc., could also be considered.

Per CRRSAA or HEERF II guidance, the Department of Education made supplemental awards to the institution’s existing Student Aid Portion and Institutional Portion grants (CFDAs 84.425E and 84.425F). No action was required by the institution to receive these supplemental awards. The Project Director identified on the most current Grant Award Notification (GAN) automatically received an email indicating a supplemental award was made to our institution. Drawing down any amount of these supplemented funds constituted our institution's acceptance of the applicable terms and conditions under the CRRSAA or HEERF II and as described in the Supplemental Agreements attached to the GANs for the supplemental awards.

On January 14, 2021, the Department of Education released the allocation tables for the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act(CRRSAA or HEERF II), allocating an additional $614,802 to the student share of the new supplemental funds. On January 18, 2021, those funds became available to Edison State Community College on G5. 

CARES HEERF I Remaining Balance:  $3,300
CRRSAA HEERF II Allocation:  $614,802

Total HEERF (Student Share and Institutional) I Awarded as of 8.6.2021:  $700,600     
Remaining HEERF Student Share:  $6,702

By declaring Pell eligible students as those that exhibit “exceptional need” and by using the FAFSA as the determining factor to prove that need, Edison State determined that 694 students were Pell eligible and would receive the $800 flat award during our initial awarding of emergency grants on May 3, 2021, for the Spring 2021 term. An additional 732 student were eligible for the $200 flat award. On May 11, 2021, an additional 7 students that had completed their FAFSAs and determined to be Pell eligible, were granted the $800 awards. 

The Edison State Community College CARES Act Committee’s goal for the Spring 2021 term was to award an emergency relief grant to every student enrolled. By the end of the term, some HEERF checks were returned as undeliverable or were not cashed within the 90 day time frame. This resulted in 1,412 of the initial 1,433 students actually receiving the emergency grants for the Spring 2021 term. 

The Edison State Community College CARES Act Committee decided to simplify the awarding method for the Spring 2021 term based on the new student eligibility guidelines in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act(CRRSAA or HEERF II). Unlike the CARES Act HEERF I, the CRRSAA or HEERF II requires that institutions prioritize students with exceptional need, such as students who receive Pell Grants, and authorizes grants to students exclusively enrolled in distance education. The students no longer had to meet the federal aid eligibility requirements of Section 484 of the HEA. Consequently, we elected to award flat awards of $800 to students that were Pell grant eligible at any level and $200 awards for non-Pell and/or no FAFSA on file students. Students with no FAFSA on file were advised to complete and submit the 2021–2022 FAFSA as soon as possible to see if they would be eligible for the Pell grant and a higher emergency relief award.

The primary usage of HEERF funds was for transitioning from an on-site, in-person learning environment to an online, virtual learning environment via the purchase of personal laptops, internet service, printers and other remote learning expenses. Other expenses such as assistance to cover housing, utilities, childcare, healthcare, etc., could also be considered.

As with the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA or HEERF II), the Department of Education made supplemental awards to the institution’s existing Student Aid Portion and Institutional Portion grants (CFDAs 84.425E and 84.425F). No action was required by the institution to receive these supplemental awards. The Project Director identified on the most current Grant Award Notification (GAN) automatically received an email indicating a supplement award was made to our institution. Drawing down any amount of these supplemented funds constituted our institution’s acceptance of the applicable terms and conditions under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF III) and as described in the Supplemental Agreements attached to the GANs for the supplemental awards.

On May 12, 2021, Edison State Community College received $2,658,474 for the student share of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF III) funding. The remaining balance of the CARES Act HEERF I and CRRSAA or HEERF II was used based on the ARP HEERF III guidelines. All allocations received by Edison State were exhausted by June 28, 2022.

On July 13, 2021, we determined that 705 students enrolled for the Summer 2021 term were eligible for emergency relief funding awards; of which 282 were determined to be Pell eligible exhibiting the highest exceptional need and 423 were eligible for the lower-level award. On August 10, 2021, two students came forward with special circumstances exhibiting extreme financial need. The Edison State CARES Act Committee agreed to award them both $1250 ARP HEERF III awards early for the fall term. On September 28, 2021, enrollment reports verified that 1,540 undergraduate students were enrolled in the Fall 2021 semester that began on August 23, 2021. At mid-point, or Fall Late term beginning October 18, 2021, we added another 129 students to the term and issued CARES emergency relief  funds. For spring semester on February 22, 2022 and April 18, 2922 1,543 students were awarded. In summer semester the final 234 students were awarded.

As of August 10, 2021, a total of 707 students have been awarded emergency relief grants from the ARP HEERF III funding. On September 28, 2021, enrollment reports verified that 1540 undergraduate students were enrolled in the Fall 2021 semester that began on August 23, 2021. At mid-point, or Fall Late term beginning October 18, 2021, we added another 129 students to the term and issued CARES emergency relief funds. 

The Edison State Community College CARES Act Committee decided to continue with the same methodology used for the Spring 2021 term with the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA or HEERF II). Like the CRRSAA or HEERF II, the ARP HEERF III requires that institutions prioritize students with exceptional need, such as students who receive Pell Grants, and authorizes grants to students exclusively enrolled in distance education. The students no longer had to meet the federal aid eligibility requirements of Section 484 of the HEA. In addition, approved international students also became eligible under ARP HEERF III guidelines. As in the Spring 2021 term, we elected to award flat awards of $800 to students that were Pell grant eligible at any level and $200 awards for non-Pell and/or no FAFSA on file students for the Summer 2021 term. Students with no FAFSA on file were advised to complete and submit a 2021–2022 FAFSA as soon as possible to see if they would be eligible for the Pell grant and a higher emergency relief award.

Since Edison State Community College received a much higher allocation in the ARP HEERF III funding, the Edison State Cares Act Committee decided to award every student enrolled in the Fall 2021 semester, an emergency relief award. We determined that any student who completed a FAFSA and had Pell grant eligibility would be the cohort that exhibited the highest financial need. Consequentially, all Pell eligible students enrolled would receive a $1,000 CARES award and all other students would receive a $500 award. The same methodology was used for the Fall Late 2021 term and Spring semester in 2022.

Summer semester of 2022 was the last round of fund awarding directly to students. Only students with Pell Grant eligibility received funds dependent upon their enrollment status. Full-time enrollment received $799; three-quarter time enrollment received $500; half-time enrollment received $250; less-than-half-time enrollment received $86. 

The primary usage of HEERF funds was for transitioning from an on-site, in-person learning environment to an online, virtual learning environment via the purchase of personal laptops, internet service, printers and other remote learning expenses. Other expenses such as assistance to cover housing, utilities, childcare, healthcare, etc., could also be considered.

Since no application was required and criteria were determined by Edison State, students were notified via student email of the details surrounding the emergency fund award for all terms where ARP/HEERF III funding was issued.