The Department of Education (ED) on May 6 provided some clarification about the timing of reporting requirements for institutions that receive Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants for students. The same announcement also offered more detail about reporting on institutions’ websites.
Section 18004(e) of the CARES Act originally required institutions to submit a 30-Day Fund Report to the secretary of education 30 days from date of the institution’s Certification and Agreement. The May 6 announcement delayed this requirement until ED provides instructions for providing the required information “in the near future.” However, the announcement also introduced a new requirement for institutions to post information on their HEERF allocation 30 days after its receipt to their website
The National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) said it is seeking clarification of whether this means reporting is required within 30 days of receiving the first drawdown of funds, or within 30 days of when the institution received the grant award notification that funds were available for drawdown.
ED’s guidance indicates the following information must be posted to an institution’s website (and updated every 45 days thereafter):
- An acknowledgement the institution signed and returned the Certification and Agreement
- The total funds received by the institution, and the total amount distributed to students
- The estimated number of students eligible to participate in Title IV-eligible programs, the number of students to receive an emergency grant, and methods to determine which students received grants and how much
- Any instructions provided to students concerning the grants
ED said further reporting guidelines for student grants will be released soon. As for the institutional portion of HEERF grants, ED has yet to say when reporting will begin or what it will include, but we know the information will be shared quarterly.
Feel free to reach out to McClintock & Associates with any questions on this or other CARES Act issues.
