Breaking News: Emergency Education Relief Funds Made Available to Postsecondary Institutions

Career Education Colleges and Universities | CECU

April 9, 2020 12:22 pm PST

Moments ago, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced the U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) is making immediately available to postsecondary institutions more than $6.2 billion in emergency grants for students impacted by Coronavirus and authorized in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”).

The approximately $6.2 billion accounts for the portion of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (Sec. 18004) that must be used to provide emergency financial aid grants directly to students (Sec. 18004(c)). The institutional share of funds is not yet available.

To access funds, an institution must sign and return a Certificate of Funding and Agreement via grants.gov, acknowledging the terms and conditions of the funding. After the Department receives the certificate, institutions may draw down their emergency funds using G5.

CECU senior staff has been invited to a Higher Education Stakeholder briefing at 4:00 pm ET today with Department officials. This briefing will focus on the Department’s implementation of the CARES Act, with an emphasis on funding allocated to higher education institutions. As soon as that call concludes, we will provide any additional information that is relevant to your institutions and students.

Guide for the Distribution of Student Grants under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund PDF