CARES Act Student Emergency Aid Application

CARES Act Expansion: CRRSAA

As an expansion of the CARES Act, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), 2021, was signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020. UWF received additional CRRSAA funds to offer financial aid grants to students. Unlike CARES, CRRSAA guidance required institutions to prioritize students with exceptional need. UWF is committed to providing support for students with the most significant financial needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This page specifically to previous CARES funding. For information about CRRSAA, visit our CRRSAA page.

Initial Funds Expended

Initial UWF CARES Act Emergency Grant funds have been expended. Students were considered by means of an application submission or inquiry through the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships with supporting documentation or were selected based on institutional eligibility criteria. Students selected by UWF accepted their award via MyUWF in order to self-certify that they met the eligibility criteria as defined by the Department of Education.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be enrolled in the semester for which the student is requesting aid. 
• Must be a degree-seeking student–Undergraduate, Graduate, Specialist, or Doctoral.
• Must be eligible to receive Title IV aid; see Title IV Eligibility Criteria (Basic Eligibility Criteria for Federal Student Aid).
• Enrollment was impacted by COVID-19 and have expenses incurred for housing, food, course materials, technology, healthcare, or childcare.
• Must have submitted 2019-2020 FAFSA if applying for Spring 2020 or Summer 2020; must have submitted a 2020-2021 FAFSA if applying for Fall 2020 or Spring 2021.
• Must not be enrolled in a fully online program.

Application Process:

CARES Act Student Emergency Grant Applications were accepted via the UWF Scholarship Portal through May 19, 2020. When funds remained after the initial application period closed May 20, 2020, subsequent application inquiries were made by contacting the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at finaid@uwf.edu.

Students were required to provide documentation with the application (e.g., unemployment documentation, letter/documentation from employer, lease if for rent, invoice for health care or child care, etc.). Students were notified via UWF email of approval or denial of their application within 10 business days of submission.  

Award Amounts and Disbursement:

• Maximum for each disbursement is $1,250.
• Students may receive more than one disbursement pending they meet eligibility criteria.

*Student must have dependent child on FAFSA or provide documentation of dependents.

Department of Education CARES Report

While ED develops a process for institutions to directly provide the required reporting data, it has in the meantime called for institutions to make easily accessible to the public — via the institution's website — the following items:

• An acknowledgement that the institution signed and returned the certification and agreement form and that the institution has used, or intends to use the funds to provide the mandated amount of at least 50% of the emergency financial aid grants to students.
  • UWF acknowledges that we signed and returned our certification on April 10, 2020, and we will award at least 50% of our CARES funding in the form of emergency financial aid grants directly to students.
• The total amount of funds that the institution will receive, or has received under the HEERF student portion.
  • UWF received $3,400,694 for emergency aid grants for students.
• Of those funds, the total amount that has been distributed to students as of the date of reporting (i.e., the first 30-day deadline, then every 45 days, and quarterly after Oct. 16, 2020). Amounts displayed via the following HEERF - CARES table.
• The estimated total number of students at the institution eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and therefore eligible to receive an emergency financial aid grant.
  • UWF has about 6,000 students eligible to receive Title IV aid.
• The total number of students who have received an emergency financial aid grant.
• How the institution determined which students did, or will receive emergency financial aid grants and how much funding they did, or will receive.
  • UWF is using an application to determine which students will receive emergency financial aid grants. The preceding Award Amounts chart was used to determine the amount of funding.
• Any instructions, directions, or guidance provided by the institution to students concerning the emergency financial aid grants.
  • This is UWF's CARES webpage, offering instructions and guidance on emergency financial aid grants.

Of note, ED made a change to when the 30-day reporting clock begins. Initially, ED had indicated that institutions were required to submit their first report 30 days from the date the institution signed the certification and agreement form. In this latest guidance, ED changed that date to 30 days from when the institution received its student portion of the HEERF.

ED noted that the above data points are to be reported in the aggregate and in a way that protects personally identifiable information, and should also be updated by the institution every 45 days after the first required 30-day reporting submission.

For the latest on how COVID-19 is impacting higher education and student financial aid, refer to NASFAA's COVID-19 Web Center.

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund CARES Reporting

Dec. 31, 2020: 2,489 student awards issued to a total of 2,214 students; Jan. 20, 2021: 2,504 student awards have been issued to a total of 2,225 students. Based on continued COVID-19 impact, some students have received more than one award.

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Reporting

1 A portion of CARES and CRRSAA institutional aid was used for students with a military affiliation whose housing allowance was negatively impacted by COVID.
2 UWF received a Title III SIP grant from the US Department of Education (DOE) which made UWF eligible to receive HEERF funding in the category of SIP. Of the total $1,808,800 received, $1,068,315 was used for student aid. Of the amount used for student aid, $337,172 was awarded to seniors near graduation, and $731,143 was used to provide scholarships for students to help assist in the cost of attendance in the STEM Scholars program.
3 A portion of institutional aid was awarded utilizing the same criteria as the CARES, CRRSAA, and ARPG emergency student grants.                                                                                                              4 Specific to this webpage, March 31, 2022 is UWF's final Quarterly Reporting for the Student Portion of HEERF (PR/Award Number: P425E200197). This quarterly reporting reflects all expenditures of the Student Portion. 

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