The Shared Services Center is closely monitoring the federal requirements for the CARES Act funds as the campus prepares to release additional emergency financial assistance to students. Chancellor Louise Pagotto shared an interim progress report on distributions of the CARES Act funding through the University of Hawaii’s Urgent Student Relief Fund.
The U.S. Department of Education released an interim final rule clarifying categories of students who may be excluded from the CARES funding. Federal regulations on the CARES Act funds will be finalized once the public comment period ends and the feedback is incorporated into the final draft. Eligibility to receive emergency financial assistance through the CARES Act is determined by federal financial aid eligibility under Title IV, which excludes the following individuals:
- foreign nationals and most other non-citizens students dual-enrolled in secondary school;
- students that do not meet academic progress standards;
- students who are in default on a federal student loan or owe any refund relating to a federal student grant;
- students who are without a high school diploma, GED certification, or recognized equivalent or exception; or,
- students who are in programs that are not Title IV-eligible programs.
Emergency financial assistance for students through the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund are provided to institutions “to provide emergency financial aid grants to students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus (including eligible expenses under a student’s cost of attendance, such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care).”
Read the USDOE’s public release, U.S. Department of Education Issues Rule to Protect American Taxpayers from Waste, Fraud, and Abuse, Ensure COVID-19 Relief Funds Get to Eligible Students (Jun. 11, 2020).
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