Quarterly Report 3 (January 1, 2021-March 31, 2021)

CARES Act – Student Aid Portion

Central Texas College

CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) – Student Aid Portion

April 26, 2021

Based on the HEERF Student Aid Portion Public Reporting Requirement (August 31, 2020, Federal Register notice) the original May 6, 2020 Electronic Announcement was revised. The same seven reporting elements are required but a footnote was added to reporting item 4; and the frequency of reporting was decreased after the initial 30-day period from every 45 days thereafter to every calendar quarter.  

1. Acknowledgment that the institution signed and returned to the Department the Certification and Agreement and the 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.

On April 18, 2020 Central Texas College’s Deputy Chancellor of Finance and Administration signed and submitted the Recipient’s Funding Certification and Agreement Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to the United States Department of Education. On April 26, 2020, Central Texas College received notice from the Department of Education that the college’s grant had been selected for funding. The institution intends to use no less than 50% of the funds received under Section 18004(a) (1) of the CARES Act to provide emergency financial aid grants to eligible students. Central Texas College received $4,544,176.00 in total funding, which includes an allocation of $2,272,088.00 for emergency student aid grants.

2. The total amount of funds that the institution will receive or has received from the Department of Education for the student portion of the HEERF.

$2,272,088.00

3. The total amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act (student portion) as of March 31, 2021.

$1,626,750.00

4. The estimated total number of CTC students eligible to participate in the programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive an Emergency Financial Aid Grant.

As of the third quarter, there were 7,931 students enrolled in designated courses in the spring 2020, summer 2020, fall 2020, and/or spring 2021 semesters who may be eligible for the CARES Act (excludes students enrolled exclusively in online classes on March 13, 2020). Refer to Item 6 for CTC’s methodology to determine eligibility. CTC did not use the clarifying footnote in the revised Electronic Announcement (EA) issued August 31, 2020 because the footnote indicated “Institutions may determine the number of eligible students….” The reasons for using CTC’s methodology were many. CTC had already been using its own methodology to identify eligible students which was working, CTC had already based the award amounts using its own methodology and many students had already received CARES Act grants. In addition, per the CARES Act guidelines students enrolled exclusively in online programs were not eligible. Prior to the pandemic about 44 percent of CTC’s student population enrolled in online courses, and many were not eligible for the CARES Act grant because they were enrolled exclusively in online courses.  For the 2019-2020 financial year, CTC imported 19,529 ISIR’s and awarded Title IV funds to 6,069 students and had imported 13,537 ISIR’s for 2020-2021 by the end of October. Based on the large volume of ISIR’s CTC receives, the methodology in the Federal Registry would skew the number of eligible students.

5. Total number of students who have received the Emergency Financial Aid Grant as of March 31, 2021.

1,201 students

6. Method used to determine which students receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants and how much they would receive.
    

• The college’s Deputy Chancellor for Academic and Student Success designated a CARES Act team to draft a plan for disbursement of funds to students. The team included deans from student success, student services, library services, and institutional accountability and curriculum; and directors from community relations and marketing and the college’s military quality control liaison.
• Draft plan submitted to the Chancellor and three Deputy Chancellors (Finance and Administration, Instructional Programs and Workforce Initiatives, and Academic and Student Success) for review, recommendations and final approval.
• Eligible students to receive $750.00 each. The college estimated that of the initial 4,543 eligible students, the $750.00 award amount would provide financial assistance for about 3,029 students who had unexpected expenses directly related to the disruption of campus operations due to the coronavirus. Award of funds is made on a first-come-first served basis while funding is available. The maximum award was increased to $1,500.00 per student in the fall semester because COVID-19 continued to disrupt campus operations. CTC moved almost all of its classroom offerings to synchronous virtual learning resulting in more students experiencing unexpected expenses over a longer than anticipated timeframe.
• Final approval of document “Administration of CARES Act Emergency Student Aid” was approved May 7, 2020.
• Initial document approved was amended July 8, 2020, to include students enrolled in eligible classes for the summer 2020 semesters as CARES Act emergency funds were still available and the college campus operations continued to be disrupted due to COVID-19. Other changes made to the document included clarifying the grant was for students enrolled in Central Texas College classes and minor cosmetic (grammar, etc.) changes. With CARES Act emergency funds still available and the campus experiencing continued disruption of its operations, emergency grants were made available to eligible students enrolled in the fall semester 2020 and will be available for students enrolled in the spring 2021 semester until all student aid portion funds are expended.

Student Eligibility Requirements

• Have a 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and/or 2021-2022 FAFSA on file to determine Title IV eligibility (did not need to be awarded federal financial aid but had to be Title IV eligible
• Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
• Have a valid social security number
• If male, student is registered for the selective service
• Earned a high school diploma, a high school equivalency (GED) or completion of high school in an approved homeschool setting
• Enrolled in at least one CTC classroom, blended (hybrid), or synchronous virtual class on March 13, 2020, or later in the spring 2020, summer 2020, fall 2020, and/or spring 2021 semesters
• Excluded dual credit, international, incarcerated, continuing education and other noncredit students

Students not eligible for CARES Act Emergency Financial Aid funding referred to CTC Eagle Aid, which is designed to help students experiencing unexpected financial issue based on documented need. In the fall an undesignated scholarship fund became available and students who were not eligible for the CARES Act were referred to the CTC Foundation. CTC applied and received a Governor’s Emergency Relief (GEER) Emergency Educational Grant, which also could be used to provide financial relief to students not eligible for the CARES Act emergency grant. The state of Texas also made the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Grant (GEER) available for which Central Texas College received funds.

Qualified Expenses Directly Related to the Disruption of Campus Operations:

• Housing
• Food
• Child Care
• Technology (computer, Wi-Fi, hotspot, Camera, Headphones, etc.) necessary for virtual/online instruction
• Additional Course Materials and/or Supplies as a result of transitioning to remote learning
• Other (student must list on the application)

CARES Act Application

• Students are required to complete an online CARES Act application accessed through the student’s secured CTC Etrieve account at https://etsts.ctcd.edu/idsrv/login?signin=aaae89d897419c63f64db1ef1472786e.
• The CARES Act Application was revised October 8, 2020, increasing the amount of the maximum award from $750.00 to $1,500.00 per student effective for the fall semester. If students had received a CARES Act grant in the spring and/or summer 2020 semesters and were enrolled in the fall, the students were not required to submit a new application. Instead, this group of students were automatically awarded an additional $750.00.
• Student Success and Persistence, Financial Aid, and Student Services staff help students with questions.
• Cares Act email implemented to respond to student questions and continues to be used by students.

Review Process and Funds Distribution

• Student completes and submits the online application
• Form is routed to the CARES Act team who determine student’s initial eligibility
• If student meets initial eligibility, form is routed to the CTC Student Financial Aid office
• Financial Aid Office determines Title IV eligibility and approves/disapproves the grant application
• CTC Accounts Receivable processes disbursements on a weekly basis
• Funds electronically sent to student’s bank account on file with the college
• If an approved bank account is not on file, check is mailed to the student’s current address
   

7. Instructions, Directions, or Guidance provided by the institution to students concerning the Emergency Financial Aid Grants
    

• April 24, 2020 Chancellor’s Message to Students– CARES Act Emergency Aid
• May 6, 2020--A COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Funding-CARES Act webpage was created at http://www.ctcd.edu/covid-19-return-to-campus/covid-19-emergency-funding-cares-act/
• CARES Act FAQs posted to webpage
• YouTube CTC Student Support CARES Act Financial Aid video by the Deputy Chancellor of Academic and Student Success and posted to CARES Act webpage prior to CARES Act application going live
• May 18, 2020--CARES Act Application went live with link on CARES Act webpage
• May 18, 2020—Email sent to students with link to the CARES Act webpage and application.
• Email campaigns and Social Media campaigns sent to all students enrolled in the spring semester
• June 30, 2020—Second email sent to students enrolled in spring 2020 with link to CARES Act webpage and application.
• July 28, 2020—A follow-up email was sent to the 4,077 students enrolled in an eligible spring course who had not previously applied for the grant.
• August 31, 2020—Email sent to students enrolled in a summer 2020 course notifying the students that they may be eligible for a CARES Act grant with a link to the CTC CARES Act webpage. Email sent to 592 students.
• January 6, 2021—CARES Act webpage updated with the following changes: (1) listed the class instructional delivery methods eligible for CARES funding, (2) removed the March 13, 2020 date since CARES Act grants were available for subsequent semesters impacted by COVID19, and (3) clarified that CTC students at the Texas locations and CTC students enrolled at CTC site classes located outside Texas and Europe were eligible.
• February 17, 2020—Email sent to fall 2020 eligible students who had not applied for the CARES Act and students enrolled in spring 2021 eligible classes with start dates January and February. Sent to 2,956 students.
• Financial Aid staff immediately contact students whose CARES Act applications are received but the student does not have a FAFSA on file. The CARES Act reviewers immediately contact students who CARES Act applications were received but proof of high school graduation is not on file. Based on the Department of Education guidance students are allowed to provide the affidavit due to the difficulty in obtaining a high school transcript during the pandemic.