Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF)
Introduction
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which provides emergency relief funds to organizations and individuals affected by the coronavirus pandemic, was signed into law. The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), found in Section 18004(c) of the CARES Act, provides funding to institutions of higher education to assist students with expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus. These expenses include food, housing, course materials, technology, health care and child care.
Acknowledgment of Funding and Certification
Queen City College, LLC acknowledges that the institution’s authorized representative signed and returned to the Department of Education (Department) the Recipient’s Funding Certification and Agreement to Students under the CARES Act. Queen City College, LLC gives its assurance that the institution has used, or intends 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 was completed on June 4, 2020.
Total Award
Queen City College, LLC is expected to receive a total of $203,636.00 under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act, of which at least $101,818 will be provided directly to students impacted by campus disruptions due to coronavirus.
Student Eligibility
Under the CARES Act and subsequent administrative interpretation provided by the Department of Education (“ED”), students eligible to receive CARES Act/HEERF Emergency Funds (“Eligible Students”) must meet the eligibility criteria listed below:
i. Students must be a U.S citizen as defined in 8 U.S. Code §1611. Aliens who are not qualified aliens ineligible for Federal public benefits.
(a)In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as provided in subsection (b), an alien who is not a qualified alien (as defined in section 1641 of this title) is not eligible for any Federal public benefit (as defined in subsection (c)).
(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), for purposes of this chapter the term “Federal Public Benefit” means—
(A) any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license provided by an agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States;
According to Section 9 of the Department of Education FAQ guidance issued on April 21, 2020, only students who are or could be eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (“HEA”), may receive CARES Act/HEERF Emergency Funds.
Queen City College, LLC has determined that students who meet the previous outlined criteria, were enrolled in a Title IV eligible certificate program offered by Queen City College, LLC during the campus disruption, and complete the application for the HEERF Emergency Funds are eligible.
ii. Students must have been enrolled in a Title IV eligible certificate program at the time of the Disruption of Campus Operations.
Students who have an effective withdrawal date prior to March 26, 2020 cannot receive CARES Act/HEERF Emergency Funds. March 26, 2020 is the date on which campus instruction was suspended, disrupting the institution’s normal campus operations, as described above, and giving rise to CARES Act/HEERF Eligible Expenses. Additionally, students must be actively enrolled in a Title IV eligible certificate program on the school re-opening date of May 6, 2020.
iii. Students must submit a CARES Act/ HEERF Emergency Funds application.
Students NOT eligible for HEERF Emergency Funds are students who submit their application after the June 26, 2019 deadline, those who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and/or were not enrolled in a Title IV eligible certificate program offered by Queen City College, LLC during the disruption period. If you are denied grant eligibility due to your resident status or you did not incur eligible expenses your portion on the Act/HEERF Emergency Funds will be distributed to other qualifying students. Furthermore, any student that does not feel as though they will qualify or the CARES Act/ HEERF Emergency Funds as they did not incur eligible expenses may choose to not apply and his/her funds would be distributed to those qualifying students.
CARES Act/HEERF Emergency Fund Allocation
Consistent with the Department of Education’s April 9, 2020 letter, Queen City College, LLC has decided to evenly distribute the funds based on the hours in each program to ensure that these funds are distributed as widely as possible. Queen City College, LLC has also determined that distributing the CARES Act/ HEERF Emergency Funds as follows is consistent with the CARES Act/HEERF and the Department of Education’s guidance:
i. A total of one-hundred thousand eight hundred and eighteen dollars ($101,818.00) of the CARES Act/HEERF Emergency Grant Funds, will be allocated to Eligible Students based on the applications received
Our accrediting agency, Council on Occupational Education, defines a credit hour as a minimum of forty-five (45) clock hours. Therefore, the Barber and Cosmetology programs are thirty-four (34) credit hours, the Esthetic program is eighteen (18) credit hours, and the Nail Tech program is fourteen (14) credit hours.
Based on the number of eligible students and which programs they are enrolled in the total credit hours will be calculated and divided into the total award allocation to determine the cost of each credit hour.
The credit hours for each program will be multiplied by the cost of each credit hour to determine the award amount for each student. Standard rounding rules will apply.
Instructions or Directions Provided to the Students
In accordance with the Secretary of Education’s instructions for institutions to issue aid to students as soon as possible under the student aid portion of the CARES Act, Queen City College, LLC’s Financial Aid Officer posted notice of the CARES Act/HERRF policy and procedures on the bulletin board outside of her office on June 4, 2020. Additionally, in theory class on June 5, 2020 the policies and procedures were read and applications provided to each student in attendance.
The above communications contain the following information:
- General instructions on the purpose and allowable uses of the CARE Act/ HEERF emergency funds
- Application periods
- Contact information for questions
- Acknowledgment of the federal government as the source of funding.
CARES Act Student Application
Click here for the CARES Act Student Application
July 16, 2020 CARES ACT/HEERF EMERGENCY GRANT FUNDS UPDATE
Application Evaluation
Applications were due no later than June 26, 2020. The evaluation of all submitted applications was completed July 15, 2020.
CARES Act/HEERF Emergency Fund Allocation
Queen City College, LLC decided to evenly distribute the funds based on the hours in each program to ensure that these funds are distributed as widely as possible.
A total of one-hundred one thousand eight hundred and eighteen dollars ($101,818.00) of the CARES Act/HEERF Emergency Grant Funds, will be allocated to sixty-four (64) approved and eligible students based on submitted/received applications.
The bank account is an interest account and has received two dollars and seventy-nine cents ($2.79).
The total allocation will be one-hundred one thousand eight hundred and twenty dollars and seventy-nine cents ($101,820.79).
As stated above, our accrediting agency, Council on Occupational Education, defines a credit hour as a minimum of forty-five (45) clock hours. Therefore, the Barber and Cosmetology programs are thirty-four (34) credit hours, the Esthetic program is eighteen (18) credit hours, and the Nail Tech program is fourteen (14) credit hours.
- Barber Program – twenty-nine (29) approved students x thirty-four (34) credit hours = nine hundred eighty-six
(986) credit hours - Cosmetology Program – twenty-one (21) approved students x thirty-four (34) credit hours = seven hundred fourteen (714) credit hours
- Nail Tech Program – ten (10) approved students x fourteen (14) credit hours = one hundred forty (140) credit hours
- Esthetics Program – four (4) approve4d students x eighteen (18) credit hours = seventy-two (72) credit hours
Total credit hours = one thousand nine hundred twelve (1912)
One-hundred one thousand eight hundred and twenty dollars and seventy-nine cents ($101,820.79) ÷ one thousand nine hundred twelve (1912) credit hours = fifty-three dollars and twenty-five cents ($53.25) per credit hour.
- Barber Program – thirty-four (34) credit hours x fifty-three dollars and twenty-five cents ($53.25) = one thousand eighteen hundred ten dollars and fifty cents ($1810.50)
- Cosmetology Program – thirty-four (34) credit hours x fifty-three dollars and twenty-five cents ($53.25) = one thousand eighteen hundred ten dollars and fifty cents ($1810.50)
- Nail Tech Program –fourteen (14) credit hours x fifty-three dollars and twenty-five cents ($53.25) = seven hundred forty-five dollars and fifty cents ($745.50)
- Esthetics Program –eighteen (18) credit hours x fifty-three dollars and twenty-five cents ($53.25) = nine hundred fifty-eight dollars and fifty cents ($958.50)
Initial allocation breakdown:
- Barber Program – twenty-nine (29) approved students one thousand eighteen hundred ten dollars and fifty cents ($1810.50) per student = fifty-two thousand five hundred four dollars and fifty cents ($52,504.50)
- Cosmetology Program – twenty-one (21) approved students x one thousand eighteen hundred ten dollars and fifty cents ($1810.50) per student = thirty-eight thousand twenty dollars and fifty cents ($38,020.50)
- Nail Tech Program – ten (10) approved students x seven hundred forty-five dollars and fifty cents ($745.50) = seven thousand four hundred fifty-five dollars ($7,455.00)
- Esthetics Program – four (4) approved students x nine hundred fifty-eight dollars and fifty cents ($958.50) = three thousand eight hundred thirty-four dollars ($3,834.00)
This allocation only totaled one-hundred one thousand eight hundred and fourteen dollars ($101,814.00). The difference of six dollars and seventy-nine cents ($6.79) was divided by the sixty-four (64) students which = ten. six cents ($0.106). We rounded up the figure and added an additional eleven cents ($0.11) to each student’s amount.
The final allocation breakdown is as follows:
- Barber Program – twenty-nine (29) approved students x one thousand eighteen hundred ten dollars and sixty-one cents ($1810.61) per student = fifty-two thousand five hundred seven dollars and sixty-nine cents ($52,507.69)
- Cosmetology Program – twenty-one (21) approved students x one thousand eighteen hundred ten dollars and sixty-one cents ($1810.61) per student = thirty-eight thousand twenty-two dollars and eighty-one cents ($38,022.81)
- Nail Tech Program – ten (10) approved students x seven hundred forty-five dollars and sixty-one cents ($745.61) = seven thousand four hundred fifty-six dollars and ten cents ($7,456.10)
- Esthetics Program – four (4) approved students x nine hundred fifty-eight dollars and sixty-one cents ($958.61) = three thousand eight hundred thirty-four dollars and forty-four cents ($3,834.44)
The total amount disbursed is one-hundred one thousand eight hundred twenty-one dollars and four cents ($101,821.04).
Instructions or Directions Provided to the Students
All checks MUST be signed for, therefore all Emergency Grant Fund checks will be distributed from the Financial Aid Office Tuesday – Friday from 9:30am – 4:30pm.
CARES Act/HEERF Emergency Institutional Fund Quarterly Reporting
Click here for Queen City College’s Institutional Fund Quarterly Reporting First Report.
Click here for Queen City College’s Institutional Fund Quarterly Reporting Second Report.
Click here for Queen City College’s Institutional Fund Quarterly Reporting Third Report.
Click here for Queen City College’s Institutional Fund Quarterly Reporting Fourth Report.