CARES Act (HEERF I), CRRSAA (HEERF II), and ARP (HEERF III

 

CARES Act (HEERF I) Emergency Relief Fund – Student Portion

Section 18004(a)(1) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorizes the Secretary of Education to allocate formula-based grant funds to institutions of higher education. A portion of these funds under section 18004(c) of the Act, are to provide emergency financial aid grants to currently enrolled students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to Coronavirus. These expenses may include; travel, moving, technology, course materials, food, housing, health care, child care, and other expenses related to leaving campus and remote learning.

CCS signed and submitted the Certification and Agreement form requesting the Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under section 18004(c) of the Act in the amount of $568,245. We are pleased to report that the College has received its share of the Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

The U. S. Department of Education has stipulated that students must meet Title IV funding eligibility, which is determined by completing a FAFSA in order to receive a distribution from the CARES Act funding. In addition, students who have not completed their FAFSA application may be eligible to receive these funds by meeting the following qualifications: 1. Have a valid social security number, 2. Must have established U.S. Citizenship status, 3. Males between the ages of 18-26, must have registered for the U.S. Selective Service, 4. Have a high school diploma, GED, or completion of high school in an approved homeschool setting.

College leadership reviewed various options for distributing this funding to students and came to the conclusion that all students have been impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic and have incurred unexpected expenses related to the disruption of campus operations. We have created a fair and equitable plan to distribute this funding to all students who have filed a FAFSA and meet Title IV eligibility and those we have determined would meet Title IV eligibility if they had filed a FAFSA. The number of students who are or could be eligible to participate in Federal student financial aid programs is 1209.

The formula used to calculate the allocation for each college was partly based on the number of Pell recipients, and because these are our most needy students, the College has given Pell recipients a higher amount of funding. The College also allocated these funds based on the students’ enrollment status (full-time, three-quarter time, part-time, and less than part-time), at the time of distribution as illustrated in the chart below:

 

CARES Act (HEERF I) Emergency Relief Fund – Student Portion

There are 118 students who do not meet the requirements for Title IV eligibility and they will receive a distribution from CCS institutional funds based on the “Non-Pell Recipient” section of the chart above.

We are grateful for this funding through the CARES Act and the opportunity to pass this funding on to our students. On May 6, 2020, all students received an email with the information contained on this webpage. Funds are being disbursed to students the week of May 11, 2020.

 

CARES Act (HEERF I) Emergency Relief Fund – Institutional Portion

Section 18004(a)(1) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorizes the Secretary of Education to allocate formula-based grant funds to institutions of higher education. A portion of these funds under section 18004(c) of the Act, allows the Recipient to use up to 50 percent of the funds received to cover any costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus so long as such costs do not include payment to contractors for the provision of pre-enrollment recruitment activities, including marketing and advertising; endowments; or capital outlays associated with facilities related to athletics, sectarian instruction, or religious worship (collectively referred to as “Recipient’s Institutional Costs”).

CCS signed and submitted the Certification and Agreement form requesting the Institutional Portion under section 18004(c) of the Act in the amount of $568,244. We are grateful and pleased to report that the College has received its share of this funding.

The College used this funding to reimburse a portion of the $1,757,562 it refunded to students for prorated housing and meal plan refunds, as well as, the entire resource fee refund. The Final Report for Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting under CARES Act Section 18004(a)(1) Institutional Portion is available for review.

 

Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) (HEERF II)
Student Portion

On February 22, 2021, the College received a Grant Award Notification (GAN P425E200237 – 20C.4.1 – Student Portion) from the US Department of Education stating that the College has been awarded $568,245 under Section 314 of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) or HEERF II funding.

According to the grant terms and conditions of the award to CCS, as well as related guidance provided with the HEERF II funding, institutions are encouraged to prioritize grants to students with exceptional need, such as students who receive Pell Grants. However, students do not need to be Pell recipients or students who are eligible for Pell grants in order to receive a financial aid grant. College leadership reviewed various options for distributing this funding to students and the decision was made to provide funding to all 417 Pell Grant recipients. The College will allocate these funds based on the students’ enrollment status (full-time, three-quarter time, part-time, and less than part-time), as of February 11, 2021. Students may use this emergency grant toward any component of their cost of attendance or emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus.

CCS is grateful for this funding through the CRRSA Act and the opportunity to pass this funding on to our students. HEERF II emergency grants were provided to currently enrolled Pell Grant recipients the week of March 29, 2021, totaling $569,590 as shown in the chart below. The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees approved this resolution at its March 25, 2021 meeting.

 

CRRSAA (HEERF II) Student Portion – Emergency Grants to Students
Student Portion = $568,245

 

Groupings	Dollar Amt	No. Recipients	Total Amt
Pell Recipients
Full-Time	$1,485	328	$487,080
Three-Quarter Time	$1,110	49	$54,390
Part-Time	$740	36	$26,640
Less Than Part-Time	$370	4	$1,480
Total		417	$569,590

 

 

CRRSAA (HEERF II) Institutional Portion

On January 18, 2021, the College received a Grant Award Notification (GAN P425F201631-20B.3.1) – Institutional Portion from the US Department of Education stating that the College has been awarded $1,273,325 under Section 314 of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) or HEERF II funding.

Colleges may use the Institutional Portion to provide additional emergency grants to students, reimburse for lost revenue, and use or reimburse for implementing evidence-based practices to monitor and suppress coronavirus in accordance with public health guidelines.  In addition, colleges may discharge student balances and reimburse for lost revenue.

As of June 30, 2021, the College used a portion of this funding for emergency grants students ($1,345), to discharge student balances ($399,805), and to reimburse for COVID-19 testing ($370,247) as indicated on The Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting for HEERF I, II, III Institutional Portion available for review.

During July 2021, CCS discharged an additional $501,928 (a total of $901,733) in student balances and reimbursed for lost revenue using CRRSAA (HEERF II) funding. To review expenditures during the quarter ending September 30, 2021, please refer to the Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting for HEERF I, II, III Institutional Portion.​

 

ARP (HEERF III) Student Portion

On May 13, 2021, CCS received a Grant Award Notification (GAN P425E200237-20D.6.1) – Student Portion from the US Department of Education stating that the College has been awarded $1,625,185 under Section 2003 of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) or HEERF III funding.

According to the grant terms and conditions of the award to CCS, as well as related guidance provided with the HEERF III funding, institutions are encouraged to prioritize grants to students with exceptional need, such as students who receive Pell Grants. However, students do not need to be Pell recipients or students who are eligible for Pell grants in order to receive a financial aid grant. 

All CCS students have been impacted by the Pandemic and all have endured a year of social isolation, strict COVID mitigation restrictions, abnormal classroom experience, and many have experienced mental health challenges.  College leadership reviewed various options for distributing this funding to students and the decision was made to provide funding to all students while prioritizing those with exceptional need by providing larger emergency grants based on EFC and Household Income.  To accomplish this, CCS will use the entire student portion plus $298,490 from its institutional portion for a total of $1,923,675 in emergency grants to students.  It should be noted that the entire student portion of the CRRSAA (HEERF II) emergency grants went to Pell Grant Recipients.

The College will disburse these emergency grants directly to students and will allocate these funds based on the students’ enrollment status (full-time, three-quarter time, part-time, and less than part-time), as of May 16, 2021.  The following chart illustrates the distribution of the ARP (HEERF III) – Student Portion funding that was disbursed to students the week of July 12, 2021.   Via email, students were told that these emergency grants could be used toward any component of their cost of attendance or emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus.

Groupings	HEERF III	No. Recipients	Total Amt
Pell Grant Recipients
Level 1 – All Pell Grant Recipients
Full-Time	$3,500	306	$1,071,000
Three-Quarter Time	$2,625	57	$149,625
Part-Time	$1,750	38	$66,500
Less Than Part-Time	$875	5	$4,375
Sub Total		406	$1,291,500
Non Pell Recipients
LEVEL 2 – EFC LE 10000 and HH Inc LE 60000
Full-Time	$2,500	41	$102,500
Three-Quarter Time	$1,875	12	$22,500
Part-Time	$1,250	11	$13,750
Less Than Part-Time	$625	3	$1,875
LEVEL 3 – EFC LE 23380 and HH Inc LE 80000
Full-Time	$1,500	69	$103,500
Three-Quarter Time	$1,125	9	$10,125
Part-Time	$750	6	$4,500
Less Than Part-Time	$375	0	$0
LEVEL 4 – EFC LE 23380 and HH Inc 80001 – 100000
Full-Time	$750	57	$42,750
Three-Quarter Time	$565	9	$5,085
Part-Time	$325	4	$1,300
Less Than Part-Time	$165	1	$165
LEVEL 5 – All Other Domestic Students
Full-Time	$500	503	$251,500
Three-Quarter Time	$375	57	$21,375
Part-Time	$250	28	$7,000
Less Than Part-Time	$125	5	$625
Sub Total		815	$588,550
Total		1221	$1,880,050
The average EFC of currently enrolled students is 23380.
The average Household Income of currently enrolled students is 99,903.

 

International Students
International Students	CCS Funds	No. Recipients	Total Amount
Full-Time	$500	80	$40,000
Three-Quarter Time	$375	5	$1,875
Part-Time	$250	5	$1,250
Less Than Part-Time	$125	4	$500
Total		94	$43,625
Grand Total			$1,923,675

 

 

ARP (HEERF III) Institutional Portion

On May 15, 2021, CCS received a Grant Award Notification (GAN P425F201631-20C.5.1) – Institutional Portion from the US Department of Education stating that the College has been awarded $1,625,184 under Section 2003 of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) or HEERF III funding.

Institutions are required to use a portion of their allocation for implementing evidence-based practices to monitor and suppress coronavirus in accordance with public health guidelines.  In addition, institutions must use a portion of their allocation to conduct outreach to financial aid applicants about the opportunity to receive a financial aid adjustment due to the recent unemployment of a family member or independent student.  CCS will reserve $200,000 of its ARP (HEERF III) Institutional Portion for Professional Judgement adjustments due to unemployment and will allocate additional funding if needed based on the response to the outreach efforts.  On June 1, 2021, an email was sent to all registered students with an ISIR on file for the 2021-2022 academic year to make them aware of the opportunity for a Professional Judgement adjustment due to unemployment or a loss of income.

Consistent with the spirit of the HEERF III guidance, CCS leadership has decided to use $298,490 of its institutional portion for emergency student grants (as shown in the chart above), $200,000 for Professional Judgement adjustments for students.  During July 2021, CCS used $511,394 of its Institutional Portion to discharge student balances and reimburse for lost revenue.  Between the CRRSAA (HEERF II) and ARP (HEERF III) funding, CCS discharged balances totaling $1,413,127. In addition, $375 was used for COVID-19 testing.

To review expenditures during the quarter ending September 30, 2021, please refer to the Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting for HEERF I, II, III Institutional Portion.

During the fourth quarter, October through December 2021, the College awarded emergency grants totaling $175,000 to 39 out of a total of 102 students who responded to our professional judgement outreach. Pell eligible students accounted for 30 of the 39 students who received these emergency grants.

To review expenditures during the quarter ending December 31, 2021, please refer to the Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting for HEERF I, II, III Institutional Portion

During the first quarter of 2022, January through March, the College awarded emergency grants totaling $17,000 to 5 students who responded to our professional judgement outreach. Pell eligible students accounted for 1 of the 5 students who received these emergency grants. In addition, $8000 was used to reimburse the College for discharged balances.

To review expenditures during the quarter ending March 31, 2022, please refer to the Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting for HEERF I, II, III Institutional Portion.

As of February 3, 2022, all HEERF funding received by the College has been expended.