CRRSA HEERF II Grant Ending March 31, 2021

Student Portion

CRRSA HEERF II Grant

March 31, 2021

  1. Western Washington University (hereafter referred to as “Western”) signed and returned the “Recipient's Funding Certification and Agreement for Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act” to the U.S. Department of Education on April 21, 2020. Western intends to use no less than 50 percent of the funds received under the CRRSA (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act) to provide Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants (referred to as Federal CARES grants on Western's campus) to qualified students.
  2. The total dollar amount Western received for Federal CRRSA HEERF II Grants from the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to the institution's Certification Agreement referenced above is $5,820,847. Funds were transmitted to Western on January 16, 2021.
  3. As of March 31, 2021, the total amount of Federal HEERF II Grants distributed to students under CRRSA is $3,379,000.
  4. The estimated total number of Western students eligible to potentially receive Federal HEERF II Grants is 9,853.
  5. As of March 31, 2021, the total number of students who received a Federal HEERF II Grants is 3,379.
  6. Methods used by Western to select Federal HEERF II recipients were directed toward determining whether students had exceptional financial need to comply with Federal guidance for awarding Federal HEERF II funds. In addition, there was a strong desire by Financial Aid and other departments who serve needy students to award the first batch of Federal HEERF II funds before the end of Winter Quarter 2021. In accordance with national guidance, the selection priority for the first group of Federal HEERF II recipients went to Federal Pell Grant recipients because these students had exceptional financial need as calculated from the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

  7. Instructions, directions and guidance provided by Western’s Financial Aid Department for Federal HEERF II awarding were made on March 15, 2021 via the Financial Aid website and direct e-mail.

    On April 12, 2021, e-mails were sent to all eligible students from the Financial Aid Department that described the Federal CRRSA Act, Federal HEERF II, and informed students that the Federal CRRSA HEERF II Grant Application would be open from 8:00 a.m. on 4/12/2021 until 5:00 p.m. on 4/23/2021.

    On April 15, 2021, Western’s Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management notified academic Deans of the availability of Federal HEERF II funds and asked that Deans and faculty members encourage students to apply with a link to the Federal HEERF II announcement and application on the Financial Aid website.

    In addition, all staff members within Western’s Enrollment and Student Services Division were asked to help spread the word to students about the Federal HEERF II application via an e-mail sent on April 12, 2021.

    On April 22, 2021, a follow-up e-mail was sent from the Financial Aid Department to the same group of students as a reminder to consider applying for the Federal CRRSA HEERF II Grant funding.

    Instructions, directions and guidance provided by Western’s Financial Aid Department for Federal HEERF II awarding were made on March 15, 2021 via the Financial Aid website and direct e-mail.

    Federal HEERF II recipients were informed of their Federal HEERF II awards by the Financial Aid Department. Recipients were informed that the Federal HEERF II funds were intended to provide financial assistance to them based on exceptional financial need to help pay educational costs associated with attending Western or for emergency costs they incurred due to coronavirus.

CARES HEERF I Grant

March 31, 2021

  1. Western Washington University (hereafter referred to as “Western”) signed and returned the “Recipient's Funding Certification and Agreement for Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act” to the U.S. Department of Education on April 21, 2020. Western intends to use no less than 50 percent of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants (referred to as Federal CARES grants on Western's campus) to qualified students.
  2. The total dollar amount Western will receive for Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants (Federal CARES grants) from the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to the institution's Certification Agreement referenced above is $5,820,847. Funds were transmitted to Western on April 28, 2020.
  3. As of March 31, 2021, the total amount of Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants (Federal CARES grants) distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is $5,820,847.
  4. The estimated total number of Western students eligible to potentially receive Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants (Federal Cares grants) under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is 9,853.
  5. As of March 31, 2021, the total number of students who received a Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grant under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is 3,956.
  6. Methods used by Western to determine which students receive Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants (CARES grants) and how much they receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act are two-fold. One method consists of an application students can complete and submit to the Financial Aid Department (hereafter referred to as “Financial Aid”), which was posted to the Financial Aid website on May 1, 2020. The other consists of collaborations between Financial Aid and other areas on campus to identify students who incurred expenses due to disruption of campus operations from coronavirus. These areas include but are not limited to University Residences, the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Office of Student Life, Student Disability Access Center, Graduate School, Veterans Services, Academic Technology and User Services, LGBTQ Resources, Western Success Scholars Program and Western's Associated Students Child Development Center.
  7. Instructions, directions and guidance provided by Western's Financial Aid Department were included on the Financial Aid website via the Federal CARES grant application and accompanying FAQs. In addition, in early May 2020, the Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grant (Federal CARES grant) information was sent to students and families via the Family Connection Newsletter and included in Western Today. Melynda Huskey, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services, informed all active Western students of the opportunity to apply for Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants (Federal Cares grants) via an electronic announcement dated May 1, 2020. Upon learning that U.S. citizens could be considered for Federal Emergency Financial Aid Grants (Federal Cares grants) even when not eligible for Federal Title IV funds, the Financial Aid Department updated the relevant Federal CARES grant FAQs on the Financial Aid website on May 26, 2020 and sent a follow-up announcement to all active Western students to inform them of this update.

    On October 14, 2020, the Financial Aid website was updated to announce that the Federal CARES grant application would be re-opened for Fall Quarter 2020, from October 15 through October 26, 2020. In addition, to request help with outreach to qualified students, Academic Deans and Deans’ Assistants were informed via e-mail that the Federal CARES grant application would be opened as specified on Oct. 13, 2020, by Associate VP ESS Shelli Soto; all Enrollment and Student Services personnel were informed of same by Financial Aid on Oct. 14, 2020. In accordance with guidance received from the U.S. Department of Education on June 17, 2020, which indicated that only Title IV-eligible students should receive Federal CARES funding, Financial Aid sent all enrolled Western students who filed a 2020-21 FAFSA an e-mail on October 15, 2020, announcing that the Federal CARES grant application would be open on Western’s Financial Aid website from 8 a.m. on October 15 through 11:59 p.m. on October 26, 2020, for consideration for Fall 2020 Federal CARES grant funds. A follow-up e-mail was sent to the same group of students on October 20, 2020, to remind them of the opportunity to apply for Federal CARES grant funds. The Federal CARES grant application was duly opened on October 15, 2020, at 8 a.m. and closed on October 26, 2020, at 11:59 p.m.

Institutional Portion

Review the budget and expenditure reporting associated with the institutional portion of the Federal CARES Act allocation for Western Washington University.

Quarterly Report for Quarter Ending March 31, 2021