American Rescue Plan Act (HEERF III)

Federal Emergency Grant: Student Distribution

Congress, through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) of 2021 included a third round of Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF III) for institutions of higher education. Seattle Pacific University signed and returned to the Department of Education Seattle Pacific University’s Funding Certification and Agreement for the student portion of the university’s HEERF funds and has used the applicable amount of funds designated under ARP to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students.

Seattle Pacific University has received a HEERF III allocation to provide emergency financial aid grants to students. The grants can be used for any component of the student’s cost of attendance or for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care) or childcare. Students must have exceptional need and students qualifying for the Federal Pell Grant will receive priority consideration. Unlike the previous HEERF awards, undocumented students and international students are eligible to receive ARP funding. This includes refugees, asylum seekers, DACA recipients, other DREAMers and similar undocumented students.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the primary way that SPU determined exceptional need, but there were options to document need that may not be captured through the FAFSA.  

SPU received $3,822,170 in emergency grant funds through HEERF III to distribute to qualifying students. 

As of September 30, 2021, $2,604,921.57 was allocated to eligible students. 

The estimated total number of students eligible to receive an emergency grant was 3,437 students. 

1,328 students received emergency grants.

The awarding methods, student amounts, and guidance is below:

Distribution process

1. Selected Student Recipients
a. Eligible Students
i. Undergraduates awarded Pell or Washington College Grant.
ii. All students with past due balances when reviewed on June 21, 2021.
b. Amounts:
i. Pell Grant or Washington College Grant eligible: $2,000.
ii. Past Due Students: Minimum of $1,000 or the amount they were past due at the time of selection up to $2,000.
c. Process
i. Notification began Thursday, June 24th.
ii. Students received an authorization form to complete to choose to have the grant to pay their account or receive the funds directly. To be completed by July 6th. The authorization included a certification of information, acknowledgement of no guarantee of funds and balance owed SPU, and consequences of providing falsehoods. Students who did not respond were provided the funds directly.
2. Appeals
a. In response to the required notification of the ability to appeal for a professional judgement, we received a number requests for appeals. Where we determined that the reason for the appeal met the requirements to receive HEERF-III funding, we provided HEERF-III awards to these students.
b. As part of the appeal, students were asked to explain their special circumstances especially related to emergency costs that arose due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care) or childcare.
c. Students could request specific amounts, but the amounts were not guaranteed. Students who received the pre-selected funds were also considered for appeals.
d. The SFS Committee reviewed and approved the appeals following the HEERF-III awarding guidelines.
e. Approximately twenty-five awards ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 were made based on appeals prior to September 30.
f. As part of the appeal process the students were sent an authorization form to complete to choose to have the grant to pay their account or receive the funds directly. The authorization included a certification of information, acknowledgement of no guarantee of funds and balance owed SPU,  
a. Awards were processed on July 6 and July 20 for the Selected Students. The Appeal funds were processed as the appeals were completed.
b. Amounts varied based on financial need and available funding.
i. Pell Grant and Washington College Grant recipients received $2,000 total.
ii. Students with past due balances received a minimum of $1,000, or the amount of their past due balance up to a maximum of $2,000.
iii. Students with appeals received between $1,000 and $5,000 depending on their circumstances.

December 2021 Update

As of December 31, 2021, $3,822,170 was allocated to eligible students as part of HEERF-III. This is the full amount that SPU received for distribution to students.

The estimated number of students eligible to receive a HEERF-III emergency grant was 3437.

1,993 students received HEERF-III emergency grants.

The awarding methods, student amounts, and guidance is below:

Distribution process October – December

1. Selected Student Recipients
   1. Pell eligible students who had not received any HEERF/CARES money
   2. Students with Past Due balances who either had exceptional need demonstrated on the FAFSA or were international or undocumented students ineligible for the first round of Federal Covid Relief funds
   3. Amounts
      1. Pell students: $1,000, distributed on November 17^th.
      2. Past Due Students: Awards ranged from $500 to $7,500, distributed between October 29^th and November 15^th.
2. Appeals
   1. In response to the required notification of the ability to appeal for a professional judgement, we received a number requests for appeals. Where we determined that the reason for the appeal met the requirements to receive HEERF-III funding, we provided HEERF-III awards to these students.
   2. As part of the appeal, students were asked to explain their special circumstances especially related to emergency costs that arose due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care) or childcare.
   3. Students could request specific amounts, but the amounts were not guaranteed. Students who received the pre-selected funds were also considered for appeals.
   4. The SFS Committee reviewed and approved the appeals following the HEERF-III awarding guidelines.
   5. Seven awards ranging from $1,000 to $7,500 were made based on appeals after September 30.
   6. As part of the appeal process the students were sent an authorization form to complete to choose to have the grant to pay their account or receive the funds directly. The authorization included a certification of information, acknowledgement of no guarantee of funds and balance owed SPU, and consequences of providing falsehoods.
3. Application for all eligible students
   1. All students received access to an application to be considered for the emergency grant by completing an application.
   2. Students were permitted to complete one application.
   3. Notification of the availability of the application occurred on Wednesday, November 10th.Students were notified that the application would be available until end of day Tuesday, November 16th. A reminder was sent on Friday November 12^th.
   4. Applicants could identify the costs/expenses that need assistance.
      1. Tuition/Fees
      2. Housing
      3. Food
      4. Travel
      5. Course Materials
      6. Technology
      7. Health Care
      8. Childcare
      9. Other
   5. Applicants could provide additional information that could be helpful in establishing need.
   6. Total grant requested: requested amounts are not guaranteed, maximum possible grant was $1,000
   7. Authorization to pay account or directly to the applicant
   8. Certification of information, acknowledgement of no guarantee of funds and balance owed SPU, and consequences of providing falsehoods.
   9. Students who had received the least amount of Federal Covid Aid were prioritized in this round. All applicants received an award. Awards ranged from $300 to $500 and were distributed on November 18^th.
4. All SPU’s HEERF III allocation was distributed by November 18^th, 2021.