Congress authorized a second round of emergency grant funding for college students in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) that was signed into federal law on Dec. 27, 2020. The grants have been established to prioritize Pell-eligible students, who have the highest financial need. Emergency grants do not have to be paid back and can be used for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus or any component of the student’s cost of attendance, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care) or child care. SUNY Cobleskill has been awarded $2,747,860 of which $1,373,930 (50%) is designated for emergency grants for students.
SUNY Cobleskill received Student Aid funding under the CRRSAA section 314(a)(1) program. This program, with some changes, provides supplemental funds to the CARES Act section 18004(a)(1) program. SUNY Cobleskill signed and returned to the Education Department a Certification and Agreement as required under the CARES Act section 18004(a)(1) program. We acknowledge that by drawing down the CRRSAA Student Aid Funds, our institution agrees to be bound by the conditions set forth in the CRRSAA Student Aid Supplemental Agreement including using 100 percent of these Student Aid Funds to provide emergency aid grants to students.
ELIGIBILITY
All spring-enrolled students who have an official 2020-21 FAFSA on file with SUNY Cobleskill AND are eligible to receive a Pell grant will automatically be awarded an emergency grant. Pell-eligible students were notified of their approved grant amount during the first week of April. Potentially Pell-eligible students with incomplete verifications or unoffical FAFSAs were sent an email on March 23, 2021 notifying them that they had until March 29, 2021 to address any outstanding FAFSA requirements in order to be automatically considered for an emergency grant. Students who failed to complete their outstanding requirements by March 29, 2021 were informed that they were still eligible to apply for an emergency grant through the application process.
Emergency grants for students who are NOT eligible to receive a Pell grant will be extremely limited, and a grant application will be required. Approval is not guaranteed due to limited funding. Any non-Pell eligible student who applies for an emergency grant will be required to have a completed 2020-21 FAFSA, or they must submit proof of US citizenship or permanent US residency. The emergency grant application for non-Pell eligible students was made available April 1, 2021. The deadline to apply is April 9, 2021.
DETERMINATION OF AWARDS
- 97% of the CRRSAA student emergency grant fund is designated for Pell-eligible students. Students who withdrew after February 28, 2021 are included in the eligible population if they were eligible to receive Pell while they were enrolled. SUNY Cobleskill identified 790 Pell-eligible students who will automatically receive a grant. A template was provided to all SUNY campuses by SUNY System Administration that was used as the basis for calculating individual award amounts. Awards varied by enrollment level (full or part-time) and expected family contribution (EFC) determined through 2020-2021 FAFSA completion.
- 3% of the student emergency grant fund (CRRSAA) is designated for non-Pell eligible students who complete an emergency grant application. In addition, $26,118 in remaining CARES Act funding is also being made available to non-Pell eligible students through the application process. SUNY Cobleskill identified 947 non-Pell eligible students who are eligible to complete an emergency grant application.
DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS
Non-Pell eligible students with an approved grant application and all Pell-eligible students will receive their grants by check. All checks will be mailed to students' permanent addresses in late April. All grant recipients who owe money to the College are being given the option to directly apply all or a portion of their grant directly to their student account.
Any changes to a student's permanent address must be made with the Registrar's Office by April 9, 2021. A Student Information Change Form must be submitted to the Registrar's Office, along with two forms of documentation, for all permanent address changes.
GRANT APPLICATION
Only non-Pell eligible students are eligible to complete an application. DO NOT attempt to apply if you already received an email notification about your emergency grant amount. Application deadline was April 9, 2021.
Reporting Data for Student Grants:
- As of 5/7/2021 all student emergency grant funds have been distributed from both HEERF1 (CARES) and HEERF2 (CRRSAA).
- $1,332,940.34 was distributed to 790 Pell-eligible students who received individual grants ranging from $697.88 to $1861.
- $68,107.12 was distributed to 211 non-Pell eligible students who received individual grants ranging from $165.25 to $330.62.
Any additional questions about the CRRSAA student emergency grants should be directed to the SUNY Cobleskill Student Financial Services Office at 518-255-5623 or financialaid@cobleskill.edu.