If your institution is still utilizing Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants, take note: the Department of Education (ED) just released a new Quarterly Reporting Form (QRF) that includes some substantial changes from previous versions.
The new form is to be used beginning with Q2 2022 reports and is due July 11, 2022, as July 10 is a Sunday, so we advise institutions to submit as swiftly as possible, especially because the July 4 holiday weekend will shorten the timeframe for most.
The foremost change with the new form is it combines the usage of institutional and student HEERF grants specifically for Q2, whereas previously the funds were reported separately. While this is more efficient from a paperwork standpoint — the fewer forms the better — quarterly student reporting is now completely different for those utilizing HEERF II and III grants. Changing the quarterly reporting process over two years into the pandemic also creates a risk of errors.
As the National Association of College and University Business Officers recently highlighted, the actual information to be reported is largely similar to the 2021 Annual Performance Report, although it asks for less extensive demographic information. The form will ask for student aid disbursed directly to students or used to satisfy student account balances, broken down by student and institutional portions. (Find more specific information on HEERF II grants here and HEERF III here.) One of the frequent findings we noted in the 2021 HEERF audits, was properly classification of HEERF grants in the correct category. For example, we identified instances where (a)(4) student grants were reported as (a)(1). Institutions should closely review the categories and have a secondary review of the completed form performed prior to posting to their website.
Forms should be emailed to ED at HEERFreporting@ed.gov, as well as posted on the institution’s website. The fill-in form provided by ED must be used, rather than handwritten or scanned PDFs.
If you have questions about the new form, HEERF reporting or the program in general, please contact our team today.
