CARES Act Reporting & Compliance
HEERF I -CARES Act -Student Share Reporting and Compliance
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or, CARES Act, was passed by Congress on March 27th, 2020. This bill allotted $2.2 trillion to provide fast and direct economic aid to the American people negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of that money, approximately $14 billion was given to the Office of Postsecondary Education as the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or HEERF.
Columbus State Community College received a total award of $12,562,800. Half of the award, $6,281,400.00, was designated to go directly to students in the form of emergency financial aid grants (HEERF-student share) for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the COVID-19 crisis. The balance of these funds, the institutional share, also $6,281,400, is to be used by institutions for expenses related to the coronavirus.
The U.S. Department of Education stated that CARES Act funds could only go to students who were eligible to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, often referred to as FAFSA, and were enrolled in at least one class at Columbus State at the time the national health emergency was declared. Students who do not have a financial aid application on file with Columbus State, and were eligible to submit one, were encouraged to do so to receive CARES Act funds. Receiving CARES Act funds will not affect students’ current or future financial aid.
Columbus State Community College used an application process to allow students to request Student Emergency Relief Grants (SERG) funded by CARES Act funds. In addition to ensure access to these funds, after the initial application period ended, students in cohort groups, who were most likely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, were awarded funds.
SPRING 2023
Grants for Spring were disbursed to a select group of students with outstanding SP23 or AU22 tuition balances. Students were notified of the grant availability and were given instructions on how to complete the application. One hundred and thirty-four (134) students completed applications. At total of $ 123,048.10 was applied, with affirmative consent, to students’ outstanding balances.
AUTUMN 2022
The Autumn grants were first disbursed to PELL Eligible Students (6304 awards totaling $5,673,156.25). Remaining funds were available to all students through two application processes. Through the applications an additional 2110 grants were awarded for a total of 8,414 grants. The Total amount disbursed in Autumn 2022 was $6,490,690.00.
SPRING, SUMMER, AND AUTUMN 2020
During the first quarter of funding (April 2020 – June 2020) a total of 1,428 grants were disbursed for a total of $1,517,183.80.
In the second quarter of funding (July 2020 -September 2020) a total of 2,623 grants were disbursed for a total of $3,124,250.
In the third quarter (October 2020-December 2020) a total of 2,947 grants were disbursed for a total of $513,350.00
By term the breakdown is as follows:
Spring 2020 |
995 |
$ 987,433.80 |
Summer 2020 |
2028 |
$ 2,445,500.00 |
Autumn 2020 |
1220 |
$ 1,314,350.00 |
December Auto Awards |
2760 |
$ 414,000.00 |
Total |
7003 |
$5,161,283.80 |
HEERF II -CRSSA Act -Student Share Reporting and Compliance
Through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) II: Coronavirus Response
and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) Columbus State Community College
received a total award of $6,281,400 designated to go directly to students in the
form of Student Emergency Relief Grants.
CRSSA differs from the HEERF I: Coronavirus Aide, Relief and Economic Security Act
(CARES) In that the original Department of Education Guidance, requiring that students
must meet Title IV eligibility and explicitly prohibiting grants for DACA students,
undocumented students, and international students was removed May 14, 2021. In addition,
non-degree seeking, non-credit, dual enrollment, and continuing education students
may now be eligible.
HEERF: Student Emergency Relief Grants (SERG) can be used for any component of the
student’s cost of attendance or for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus,
such as tuition, food, housing, physical/mental health care, or childcare.
Columbus State Community College continued to use a combination of application and
auto award for the selection and distribution of these funds. CRRSA Act required that
institutions prioritize students with exceptional need, such as students who receive
Pell Grants, in awarding the grants to students. Auto awards were used to prioritize
students with the greatest financial need and students in cohort groups that are most
likely to be impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
HEERF III - ARP -Student Share Reporting and Compliance
The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III (HEERF III) was authorized by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) that was signed into law on March 11, 2021, additional funds to support institutions of higher education to serve students and ensure learning continues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Priority funding will be given to students who are Pell grant-eligible and those with exceptional need. Amounts may vary based on need and the availability of funds. HEERF III funds are generally paid directly to eligible students, but students may also elect to have funds applied to outstanding balances. Student Emergency Relief Grants funded by HEERF III, can be used for any component of the student's cost of attendance or for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, healthcare, or childcare.
Columbus State Community College continued to use a combination of application and auto award for the selection and distribution of these funds. HEERF III required that institutions prioritize students with exceptional need, such as students who receive Pell Grants, in awarding the grants to students. Auto awards were used to prioritize students with the greatest financial need and students in cohort groups that are most likely to be impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Students may apply for assistance during designated application periods until funds have been exhausted. Application dates will be shared in the Student News and posted at Emergency Assistance | Columbus State Community College (cscc.edu)
spring 2021
The Spring 2021 Student Emergency Relief Grant application opened January 18, 2021.
The remaining CARES Act Funds were disbursed along with additional $1,995,656.58 in institutional funds.
spring, summer, autumn 2021 (CARES, CRSSA, HEERF III)
During the first quarter of 2021(January 2021-March 2021) a total of 2,468 grants were disbursed for a total of $1,245,850.00
In the Second quarter (April 2021- June 2021) a total of 3,191 grants were disbursed for a total of $1,929,819.25
In the third quarter (July 2021 – September 2021) a total of 2,209 grants were disbursed for a total of $ 3,035,834.39
In the fourth quarter (October 2021 – December 2021) a total of 9,785 grants were disbursed for a total of $13,419,887.47
By term the breakdown is as follows:
Spring 2021 |
6670 |
$ 3,342,590.14 |
Summer 2021 |
1663 |
$ 1,258,203.87 |
Autumn 2021 |
11531 |
$ 15,517,545.18 |
Total |
19864 |
$ 20,118,339.19 |
Spring 2022
In the first quarter (January 2022 – March 2022) a total of 6,618 grants were disbursed for a total of $6,431,682.65
Summer 2022
The Summer grant application was open from July 11, 2022 – August 5, 2022. A total of 617 grants were disbursed for a total of $312,706.90
Grant History
- Columbus State submitted the signed Certification and Agreement for the student aid portion of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund to the Department of Education on April 15, 2020. The Grant Award Notification was received on April 20, 2020. Columbus State intends to use at least 50 percent of its total CARES Act funds to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to eligible students.
- The total amount Columbus State received on April 20th pursuant to the Certification and Agreement was $6,281,400.00.
- As of the initial report date of May 15, 2020, Columbus State had awarded 1889 Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students.
- The estimated total number of students at Columbus State eligible to participate in the CARES Act HEERF is between 8,000 to 9,000 students.
- The method Columbus State is using to determine which students will receive the grants funds is through an application process where students apply and certify they are eligible. Columbus State uses FAFSA data from completed 2019-20 or 2020-21 FAFSA applications. In addition to the FAFSA, we are using data from our student information system (Colleague) to verify additional eligibility requirements (e.g., program of study, alien status, etc.).
- Award amounts will vary.
- Instruction, directions and guidance provided to our students has been through this website: https://www.cscc.edu/services/essential-needs/emergency-assistance.shtml. In addition to the information posted on the web sites, an email was sent on 4/30/2020 to all students currently enrolled at that time for spring and/or summer semesters 2020. The link to the learn-on site was also on the main Blackboard page.
CARES Act – HEERF - Institutional Reporting and Compliance Notice
The institutional portion of the CARES Act HEERF funds, $6,281,400, is being used for eligible expenses related to the coronavirus. For the reporting period June 2, 2020 (the date of the award) through December 31, 2020, Columbus State has used $1,845,290.57 of the available award. The attached reports provide information on how these funds have been spent. The College is continuing to assess how the remaining funds will be utilized for eligible expenses as the coronavirus continues to impact the operations and delivery of services of the College. The College has, however, maximized other CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF), awarded to the State of Ohio of which a portion have been passed through to Columbus State, having an earlier expiration date of December 30, 2020, while the HEERF funds can be used for up to twelve months from the date of award.
In addition, since Columbus State is a Title III institution, the College received an allocation of $629,165.00 for Strengthening Institutions. As of December 31, 2020, Columbus State had spent $213,777.90 of the award. These funds have been spent on lab fee expenses. The college did not charge students lab fees during Summer and Autumn semesters. Since lab fees were not charged, these are the expenses were not paid for with lab fee revenue. As with the funding above, the College is assessing how the funds will be utilized.
The quarterly expenditure reports can be found below:
Quarterly Expenditure Report 6-30-23
Quarterly Expenditure Report 3-31-23
Quarterly Expenditure Report 12-31-22
Quarterly Expenditure Report 9-30-2022
Quarterly Expenditure report 6-30-22
Quarterly Expenditure report 3-31-22
Quarterly Expenditure report 12-31-21
Quarterly Expenditure Report 9-30-21
Quarterly Expenditure Report 6-30-21
Quarterly Expenditure Report 3-31-21
Quarterly Expenditure Report 12-31-20
Quarterly Expenditure Report 9-30-20