CRRSAA HEERF II Third Quarter Fund Report -Posted 10/08/2021

  1. Acknowledgement: Per sponsor requirements, Washington State University submitted the Department the Certification and Agreement and the assurance that the institution commits to 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. This certification was submitted April 14, 2020.  Per sponsor requirements, “for existing private nonprofit and public CARES Act grantees, the CRRSAA authorized supplemental awards to existing Student Aid Portion and Institutional Portion grantees.  These institutions will not be required to submit new or revised applications to the Department to receive these new funds.” Therefore, no new certification was completed for the HEERF II funding to use the funds received under Section 314(a)(1) of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA) to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students.
  2. Total amount received: WSU qualified for and received funds from the Department pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students $10,884,272 (in student-targeted funding). 
  3. Total amount distributed: As of September 30, 2021, WSU had distributed to students, under Section 314(a)(1) of the CRRSAA a total of $10,884,272.
  4. Total number of students eligible: The estimated total number of students at Washington State University eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants under Section 314(a)(1) is 18,687.
  5. Total number of students served: As of September 30, 2021, WSU had distributed Emergency Financial Aid Grant support, under Section 314(a)(1), to a total of 10,762students.
  6. Methods: The method(s) used by WSU to determine student recipients of Emergency Financial Aid Grants, and the amount they receive(d), Section 314(a)(1) was created by WSU using the following criteria: Students were initially selected for Emergency Financial Aid Grants under the CRRSAA program based on need as determined through the FAFSA application.  Pell eligible students, undergraduate students with an EFC of $12,000 or less and graduate and professional students with an EFC of $5,711 or less were considered.  Students were required to be enrolled ½ time or more at census for Spring term, 2021, and had to be meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements.  Students selected in this process received $1000 in CRRSAA funding. In addition, students who were not selected through the above criteria due to EFC, but who completed the Emergency Fund Request form, were considered for funding.  The Emergency Fund Request form was used to define need for students who were did not meet the initial need criteria.   Students funded through the Emergency Fund Request form were funded for $500.

    In May, 2021, the Department of Education released additional guidance on eligibility for HEERF emergency funding.  Based on this expanded guidance, and on remaining funds, students were considered for funding without considering SAP and with having Summer enrollment of 3 hours or more.  Students enrolled for 3 or more hours for summer and who completed the WASFA application, and who had an EFC of $22,000 or less, were considered for HEERF II funding.  Students who did not complete the FAFSA or WASFA, but who had completed the Emergency Fund Request form, were considered for funding.
  1. Additional instructions/information: Students were notified by email about the CRRSAA Emergency Funding Grants on March 18, 2021. A link to that email is here .  Students were directed to the WSU Student Care Network site where information about selection criteria was listed as well as information on how students not initially selected for CRRSAA emergency funding could apply with the Emergency Fund Request form.  Students who submitted Emergency Fund Request forms were reviewed for possible Emergency Grant funding starting in April, 2021.