On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education made an additional $6.2 billion available to higher education institutions to support continued education through the CARES Act, which was the third phase of coronavirus-related relief. The funding is part of the $31 billion allocated to the Department of Education under the law. Funding allocations (available here) were developed based on the formula outlined in the CARES Act. The formula heavily accounts for the number of Pell-eligible full-time students, as well as overall enrollment prior to COVID-19.
The allowable uses of funds in this round are broader than the emergency financial aid grant funding that was previously made available. Under this funding, institutions may use funds for expenses they incur related to changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus. To access the funding, institutions must complete a "Certification and Agreement for Recipient Institutional Costs" form, located here. Institutions must have applied for the initial funding and submitted the Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students before applying for these institutional funds. According to the Department, roughly half of eligible postsecondary institutions have applied for the last round of funding.
The Department's full news release on the announcement can be found here, and you can find more details about this new funding, including the certification form, here.
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