HEERF Funding

June 30, 2022

The American Rescue Plan Act (HEERF III) provides funding to institutions to provide emergency financial aid grants to students with exceptional need. San Diego Christian College received $691,589 for this version of HEERF of which we disbursed in its entirety. These funds were used to provide emergency grants to help students with exceptional need, meet urgent, basic needs such as tuition, food, housing, health care or childcare. Facts on the criteria and distribution of these funds can be found below:

Criteria for Eligibility:

As outlined by the Department of Ed, institutions must prioritize grants to students with exceptional need, such as students who receive Pell Grants. However, students do not need to be Pell recipients or students who are eligible for Pell grants to receive an emergency financial aid grant.

Method of Determining Amounts Awarded:

To be eligible to receive a grant, we awarded all Pell eligible students enrolled in Spring 2022 courses a grant to help meet their needs. We used their Expected Family Contribution (EFC), as established by the 2020-2021 FAFSA to determine the award amounts. We also awarded International Students emergency grants as most demonstrated exceptional need.

By the numbers:

  • Total Amount Received by SDCC: $691,589
  • Total Amount Awarded the week of 05/24/22: $263,410
  • Total Students Awarded the week of 05/24/22: 152

Notification:

On April 22, 2022 and April 29, 2022 all students were notified that the application was available on the SDCC Hawks Portal. Students had the option of receiving checks in the mail or funds via direct deposit, if that was previously setup. Students could also request in writing to have their grants applied to their student account.

HEERF Quarterly Reporting June 2022

March 31, 2022

The American Rescue Plan Act (HEERF III) provides funding to institutions to provide emergency financial aid grants to students with exceptional need. San Diego Christian College received $691,589 for this version of HEERF of which we disbursed $436,600 thus far. These funds were used to provide emergency grants to help students with exceptional need, meet urgent, basic needs such as tuition, food, housing, health care or childcare. Facts on the criteria and distribution of these funds can be found below:

Criteria for Eligibility:

As outlined by the Department of Ed, institutions must prioritize grants to students with exceptional need, such as students who receive Pell Grants. However, students do not need to be Pell recipients or students who are eligible for Pell grants to receive an emergency financial aid grant.

Method of Determining Amounts Awarded:

To be eligible to receive a grant, we awarded all Pell eligible students enrolled in Fall 2021 courses a grant to help meet their needs. We used their Expected Family Contribution (EFC), as established by the 2020-2021 FAFSA to determine the award amounts. We also awarded International Students emergency grants as most demonstrated exceptional need.

By the numbers:

  • Total Amount Received by SDCC: $691,589
  • Total Amount Awarded the week of 01/11/22: $277,100
  • Total Students Awarded the week of 01/11/22: 145

Notification:

On November 16, 2021 and November 17, 2021 all students were notified that the application was available on the SDCC Hawks Portal. Students had the option of receiving checks in the mail or funds via direct deposit, if that was previously setup. Students could also request in writing to have their grants applied to their student account.

HEERF Quarterly Reporting March 2022

American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act HEERF Funding

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP). The ARP appropriated approximately $39.6 billion for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) and represents the third stream of funding appropriated for HEERF to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. Taken together, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA), and the ARP represent HEERF I, HEERF II, and HEERF III, respectively.

Higher Education Relief Funds:

September 30, 2021

The American Rescue Plan Act (HEERF III) provides funding to institutions to provide emergency financial aid grants to students with exceptional need. San Diego Christian College received $691,589 for this version of HEERF of which we disbursed $159,500 thus far.  These funds were used to provide emergency grants to help students with exceptional need, meet urgent, basic needs such as tuition, food, housing, health care or childcare. Facts on the criteria and distribution of these funds can be found below:

Criteria for Eligibility:

As outlined by the Department of Ed, institutions must prioritize grants to students with exceptional need, such as students who receive Pell Grants.  However, students do not need to be Pell recipients or students who are eligible for Pell grants to receive an emergency financial aid grant.

Method of Determining Amounts Awarded:

To be eligible to receive a grant, we awarded all Pell eligible students enrolled in Spring 2021 courses a grant to help meet their needs. We used their Expected Family Contribution (EFC), as established by the 2020-2021 FAFSA to determine the award amounts.  We also awarded International Students emergency grants as most demonstrated exceptional need.

By the numbers:

  • Total Amount Received by SDCC: $691,589
  • Total Amount Awarded the week of 08/09/21: $159,500
  • Total Students Awarded: 245

Notification:

On August 4th, all eligible students were notified they would be receiving checks in the mail or funds via direct deposit, if that was previously setup.  Students could also request in writing to have their grants applied to their student account.

 

Institutional Public Reporting

SDCC also received $729,280 from the ARP Act to defray expenses associated with coronavirus (including lost revenue, reimbursement for expenses already incurred, technology costs associated with a transition to distance education, faculty and staff trainings, and payroll.

HEERF 4th Quarter 2021 Reporting
HEERF 3rd Quarter 2021 Reporting
HEERF 2nd Quarter 2021 Reporting
HEERF 1st Quarter 2021 Reporting

 

The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act was signed into law on December 27, 2020. In total, the CRRSAA authorized $81.88 billion in support for education, in addition to the $30.75 billion expeditiously provided last spring through the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Student Public Reporting

Higher Education Relief Funds:
March 31, 2021

The CRRSAA Act Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEERF) provides funding to institutions to provide emergency financial aid grants to students with exceptional need. San Diego Christian College received $210,953 again for this version of HEERF. These funds will provide emergency grants to help students with exceptional need, meet urgent, basic needs such as tuition, food, housing, health care or child care. Facts on the criteria and distribution of these funds can be found below:

Criteria for Eligibility:

As outlined by the Department of Education, The CRRSAA requires that institutions prioritize students with exceptional need, such as students who receive Pell Grants, in awarding financial aid grants to students. However, students do not need to be only Pell recipients or students who are eligible for Pell grants. In addition, the CRRSAA explicitly provides that financial aid grants to students may be provided to students enrolled in distance education.

Method of Determining Amounts Awarded:

To be eligible to receive a grant, we required all students to fill out an application for the CRRSAA HEERF grant through an application that was available on the SDCC Hawks Portal from Feb 9, 2021 through Feb 23, 2021. The college sent out six emails and three text messages to students over a period of three weeks between Feb 5th and Feb 23rd, and delivered reminders announcements in Chapels. The application was linked to the student’s SIS (Student Information System) account to verify the applicant was a current student of the College. The application consisted of the following questions.

Have you or your immediate family members experienced a reduction in Household income due to COVID-19?

If yes, pick one of the following

  • Up to 25% loss
  • Up to 50% loss
  • Up to 75% loss
  • More than 75% loss

Have you (or your household) been unable to pay your Rent/Mortgage due to COVID-19?

If yes, pick one of the following

  • 1-3 months
  • 4-6 months
  • 7-9 months
  • 10-12 months

Funding was based on a scoring system that included the application answers and Expected Family Contribution (EFC), as established by the 2019-2020 FAFSA. Below is the point matrix.

Criteria Weight Answer Points
Household Income Question 44% No 0
Up to 25% 11
Up to 50% 22
Up to 75% 33
More than 75% 44
Mortgage/Rent Question 36% No 0
1-3 Months 9
4-6 Months 18
7-9 Months 27
More than 9 Months 36
EFC Score 20% 50,001+ 0
37,501 – 50,000 5
25,001 – 37,500 10
12,501 – 25,000 15
0 – 12,500 20

The matrix and points were determined by a team of College Staff and Faculty before the application was administered to the students. The weight of each question was determined to allow a loss in current household income to be the heaviest weight as that would highlight students with the highest current need due to the pandemic. We weighted the Mortgage/Rent question slightly over 33% as again it reflects a more current need for financial help. We weighted the EFC score the lowest since current scoring is still reflecting 2019 household financial information. We determined that the EFC score was still a valued determination of overall financial position for a family and applied that insight as our third criteria.

With the criteria and point matrix, the payout ranges below were determined:

Point Ranges Payout Percentage Payout Amount
0 0% of Average $0.00
1 -25 40% of Average $608.00
26 – 50 80% of Average $1,216.00
51 – 75 120% of Average $1,824.00
76 – 100 160% of Average $2,431.00

The total possible score was 100 points. The team worked to create an evenly distributed award so we created four ranges of 25% of the total points. The payout percentages allowed the highest payout to be four times the lowest payout, or each range was awarded an additional $608.00. Four students answered the questions and had a total score of zero which earned them 0 points.

By the numbers:

  • Total Amount Received by SDCC: $210,953
  • Total Amount Awarded the week of 3/15/21: $210,966
  • Total Students Eligible to apply: 410
  • Total Students applied: 163
  • Total Students Awarded: 159

Instructions and Notifications:

Students were asked on the Application how they would like to receive their funds if there were eligible. They had the following options. Distributions were made based on their answers in the application.

  • Check sent to home address (Enter address)
  • Check sent to student housing address
  • Payment applied to student account in our SIS system

All eligible students were emailed instructions on how to apply for the funds on 2/5/21, 2/9/21, 2/16/21, 2/18/21, 2/22/21, and 2/23/21. Additionally, texts were sent out on 2/10/21, 2/18/21 and 2/22/21 to make sure that all students were informed of the process to apply for the grant.

On March 18, 2021, the 159 students were notified by email that they would be receiving checks in the mail or funds deposited to their student accounts based on how they responded in the application.


CARES Act HEERF Funding

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or, CARES Act, was passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on March 27th, 2020. This bill allotted $2.2 trillion to provide fast and direct economic aid to the American people negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of that money, approximately $14 billion was given to the Office of Postsecondary Education as the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or HEERF.

Student Public Reporting

Higher Education Relief Funds:
May 20, 2020

The CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) provides funding to institutions to provide emergency financial aid grants to students whose lives have been disrupted because of COVID-19. San Diego Christian College received $210,953. These funds will provide emergency grants to help students meet urgent, basic needs such as food, housing, course materials, technology, healthcare, and childcare. Facts on the criteria and distribution of these funds can be found below:

Criteria for Eligibility:

As outlined by the Department of Education, if a student has filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), then the student has demonstrated eligibility to participate in programs under Section 484 of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The criteria to participate in programs under Section 484 of the HEA include but are not limited to the following:

  • U.S. citizenship or eligible noncitizen
  • A valid Social Security number
  • Registration with Selective Service (if the student is male)
  • High school diploma, GED, or completion of high school in an approved homeschool setting
  • Fully online students are not eligible

Method of Determining Amounts Awarded:

We requested all eligible students to apply for the HEERF grant on April 29th and again on May 6th. After reviewing applications submitted, it was clear that all students had COVID-19 related costs. In response, SDCC used two main standards for determining awards:

  • 2019-2020 Expected Family Contribution (EFC), as established by the 2019-2020 FAFSA.
  • Housing Type: On-campus housing or commuter. The chart below shows the calculations:
Student Housing EFC $0-5,500 EFC $5501-30,000 EFC >$30,001
On-Campus $1,720 $760 $460
Commuter $830 $410 $250

By the Numbers:

  • Total Amount Received by SDCC: $210,953
  • Total Amount Awarded the week of 5/18/2020: $211,560
  • Total Students Eligible: 266
  • Total Students Awarded: 264

Instructions and Notifications:

  • All eligible students were emailed instructions on how to apply for the funds on April 29th and May 6. Additionally, texts were sent out those same days instructing students to check their email for an important message from Financial Services.
  • On May 18th, 2020 all eligible students were notified they would be receiving checks in the mail or funds via direct deposit, if that was previously setup.

Institutional Public Reporting

SDCC also received $211,061 from the CARES Act to cover its costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus.

HEERF Quarterly Reporting