ED Outlines Requirements for CARES Act Emergency Relief Institutional Funds – NASFAA
The Department of Education (ED) announced this week the availability of roughly $6 billion in institutional funds from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) created in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The funds (HEERF-institutional share) will go directly to institutions to be spent on expenses incurred as a result of changes in instructional delivery due to the coronavirus, and are a separate stream from the more than $6 billion institutions are to send directly to students (HEERF-student share).
In order to receive the funds, institutions must sign a new certification agreement that stipulates the funds are to be used to cover “any costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus” that were incurred on or after March 13, 2020 (the date of President Donald Trump’s national emergency proclamation). While there is a fair amount of latitude with these funds — especially compared to the HEERF-student share funds — the certification form does prohibit institutions from using them for costs associated with paying contractors for pre-enrollment recruitment activities, including marketing and advertising, in addition to costs associated with endowments. Also excluded are capital outlays associated with facilities related to athletics, sectarian instruction, or religious worship, as well as payment for senior administration or executive salaries benefits or bonuses, stock buybacks, stock options, or capital distributions.