CARES Act

Santa Fe College

Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding Information

Federal School Code

Code 001519

Santa Fe College (SF) is a recipient of Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds.  In compliance with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education guidance and federal regulations regarding the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, & Economic Security (CARES) Act funding, SF provides the following information.  This information is reported via this webpage as required 30 days after April 21, 2020, the date SF received its allocation under 18004(a)(1). The information will be updated every 45 days thereafter for the federal funding period ending April 20, 2021.

  1. SF signed and returned to the U.S. Department of Education (Department) the required Certification and Agreement in April. SF assures that it will use no less than 50 percent of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students.

 

  1. The Department awarded SF a total of $3,929,725 in CARES Act funding for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students. The college’s current plan is that funding will be distributed directly to students in several phases over the award year.

 

  1. As of May 15, 2020, SF has distributed a total of $275,700.00 in Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

 

  1. In accordance with Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, there are an estimated 9,917 SF students eligible to participate in programs and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

 

  1. As of May 15, 2020, 218 SF students have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

 

SF to date has utilized two distinct methods to determine which students receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants and how much they receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.  SF continues to refine its process and approach while keeping the needs of students paramount. SF will update this information as new approaches are implemented and existing ones are modified.  

 

  • The first method involved an analysis of the impact of remote services particularly on Spring 2020 students in clock-hour based Career and Technical Education Programs. Those students eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 of Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 were awarded $1,500 each (the maximum award amount authorized by the college) to ease the hardships associated with being unable to complete program hours or receive financial aid funds. This is not an ongoing method and has been completed.

 

  • The second method requires students to complete the COVID-19 Emergency Aid application located on the college’s website. Applicants must provide the following:
    1. Name
    2. Student identification number
    3. Contact information
    4. Type of emergency aid requested (childcare, course materials, food, health care, housing, technology).
    5. The total amount of emergency aid requested.
    6. A narrative on how COVID-19 impacted their ability to continue at SF.
    7. Verifiable, supporting documentation associated with each type of aid requested, if possible.

 

Applicants must certify that the information that they have submitted is true and accurate. Each application is reviewed by the 7 members of the college’s COVID-19 Emergency Aid Committee. Once eligibility was determined, the committee awarded grant amounts using pre-determined amounts for rent costs, utility costs and childcare costs. These amounts were established based on averages determined by analyzing data from SF’s longtime Life Happens Emergency Aid grant program. Additionally, because it is expected that those students who carried a higher course load and were further along in their academic career experienced a greater economic impact because of COVID-19, an additional amount was awarded to students to meet their needs using a rubric considering the number of credit hours earned at SF and the number of current courses.  The maximum award per student is $1500.

 

  1. Students were provided with the following message about the availability of Emergency Aid:

 

“SF President Paul Broadie II announced the establishment of a COVID-19 Emergency Aid Grant designed to help students who find themselves financially impacted. This grant, funded by the CARES Act, will be awarded to help students having a temporary financial crisis resulting from COVID-19 so that they may remain enrolled at SF, continue their education and work toward graduation. Students interested in applying should visit sfcollege.edu/COVID19AID to complete the application. The grant can be used to help students with food, housing, course materials, technology, health care and childcare. To be eligible, the grant applicant must meet all the following requirements:

  • Be a currently enrolled student at SF
  • Be eligible to receive federal financial aid
  • Complete the online COVID-19 Emergency Aid Grant application
  • Upload supportive and verifiable documentation of negative financial impact of COVID-19 (e.g. notification of reduction of work hours, layoff or furlough)
  • Be available and respond to the SF Ombudsperson Dr. Bea Awoniyi when she reaches out
  • Have not previously received a COVID-19 Emergency Aid Grant

 

All grant applications will be reviewed by the college’s COVID-19 Emergency Aid Review Committee. They will evaluate the documentation and consider comments from the Ombudsperson. Students will be notified on the status of their application via their SF email address. Students receiving grant money will have the funds disbursed to their Bank Mobile student account.

We look forward to receiving your applications. Santa Fe College is focused on helping our students continue to persevere during these challenging times to achieve their educational goals.”

The above message was delivered not only in a direct email message from President Broadie to all students, but the same or similar verbiage was shared by numerous college employees and by the marketing team to reach students repeatedly and in numerous settings, including social media. Information about the Emergency Aid Grant was also included in the college’s COVID-19 FAQs at the following link: https://www.sfcollege.edu/alerts/covid19/faq/index

 

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