On Friday, the Supporting Students in Response to Coronavirus Act (S. 3489) was introduced in the Senate. The House introduced a similar companion bill, H.R. 6275, on Friday as well. Both bills propose funding support for preschool, K-12, and higher education as well as additional flexibility for certain Title IV statutory requirements for students and institutions impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The bills propose increased flexibility for institutions working with Title IV funds, including, among other items, updated subsidized usage limits and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and return of Title IV funds (R2T4) requirements. Both provide the Department of Education (ED) authority to exclude academic periods when a student was not able to stay enrolled due to a qualifying emergency from Subsidized Usage Limits. Institutions would also have flexibility with the SAP regulations for students who withdraw as a result of a qualifying emergency. Institutions have could exclude attempted, but unearned, credits from the SAP calculation without requiring an appeal. ED would also have the authority to waive the R2T4 requirement for students who withdrew because of a qualifying emergency. Institutions must submit a request for the R2T4 waiver process. Existing waivers in statute that exempt disaster-affected students from returning their Pell Grant or other grant funds after a withdrawal related to the disaster have been expanded to include the definition of “qualifying emergency” for the purposes of the bill.
A “qualifying emergency, according to the bills, includes a public health emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; a state of emergency declaration by governors; or a presidential declaration of a major disaster, emergency, or national emergency.
The bills also provide emergency financial aid grants totaling $1.2 billion for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. The emergency grant would be available for any student enrolled in a higher education institution who has been impacted by a qualifying emergency for up to $1,500 each award year to help meet unexpected expenses related to basic needs.
Institutions will be required to submit an application to ED to receive this emergency funding. ED would be required to make an application within 30 days of approval and would also be required to approve or deny applications within 30 days of submission. Institutions could receive up to $750,000 and would need to apply for the funding twice each award year. Institutions would be permitted to use up to 3% of emergency grant funds for administration of the program.
The application would require institutions to describe:
- The amount the institution is requesting
- The estimated number of grants they would make each year
- The criteria they would use in awarding grants to students
- The process by which students would apply
- How they will prioritize applications
- Assurance that they will make information on means-tested benefits available to students
- Assurance of an appeal process for the grant
Priority for emergency grant funds would go to institutions most heavily affected by a qualifying emergency and to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).
Institutions receiving grant funds would be required to report annually on:
- The number of applicants and number of students awarded such funds
- Average award amounts
- Processing time for students to receive emergency grant decisions
- Disaggregated data on grant recipients by race or ethnicity, sex, classification as an individual with a disability, and Pell Grant recipient status
The House version of the bill also allows ED to exclude from a student’s Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) any semester (or equivalent) that that the student does not complete due to a qualifying emergency. The Senate version does not include this provision.
Both bills were introduced to the house and senate, respectively, last week.
Sources:
Senate Fact Sheet: Supporting Students in Response to Coronavirus Act
House Fact Sheet: Supporting Students in Response to Coronavirus Act (H.R.6275)
NASFAA: House, Senate Introduce Coronavirus Legislation Addressing Title IV Concerns
Senate Bill: Supporting Students in Response to Coronavirus Act