CARES Act Report

St. Joseph's University, New York signed and returned to the Department the Certification and Agreement on April 16, 2020  and has begun to disburse 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.
 
St. Joseph's received $1,872,864 from the Department pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students. As of May 30, 2020, St. Joseph's has distributed $625,500 in Emergency Financial Aid Grants under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
 
Approximately 3886 St. Joseph's students at the institution are eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
 
As of May 30, 2020, 672 students have been sent an Emergency Financial Aid Grant as per Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

On May 1, 2020, an ad hoc committee of St. Joseph's personnel met to discuss how to distribute these funds in keeping with the guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Education and continues to meet weekly.

The committee affirmed that low-income, Pell-eligible students were most likely to have suffered severe disruption because of the closure of our campuses on March 10, 2020 due to coronavirus, particularly as it pertains to to eligible expenses under a student’s cost of attendance such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care and child care.

In light of these extraordinary circumstances:

  • St. Joseph's University, New York will distribute a $1,000 grant to all full-time (12 credits or more), Pell-eligible, land-based students enrolled for the spring 2020 semester at St. Joseph's University, New York.
  • St. Joseph's University, New York will distribute a $250 award to all part-time (11 credits or fewer), Pell-eligible, land-based students enrolled for the spring 2020 semester at St. Joseph's University, New York.

Pell recipients were emailed to inform them of their eligibility for this award and were asked to complete a certification form outlining that they understand the terms of the grant for auditing purposes. Subsequent emails will go out once a week to targeted Pell-eligible students who did not respond to the initial email on Tuesdays until funds are completely drawn down. All students will be advised that funds are first-come, first-serve.

For the remaining funds, a digital application will be enabled and Title IV-eligible students who claim economic dislocation due to the disruption of campus operations will be eligible to receive: 

  • $500 for full-time (enrolled for 12 or more credits) land-based students enrolled for the spring 2020 semester at St. Joseph's University, New York.
  • $250 for part-time (enrolled for 11 or fewer credits) land-based students enrolled for the spring 2020 semester at St. Joseph's University, New York.

This form will inform students of the existence of emergency grant funds, collect their demographic data, state the conditions of the funds and provide an opportunity to self-certify that they understand and agree to these conditions. This will link back to FA and the business office for Title IV eligibility certification and subsequent disbursement. Once again, students will be advised that funds are on a first-come, first-serve basis and will receive regular emails.
 

UPDATE: July 14, 2020

St. Joseph's University, New York has continued to disburse 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.

St. Joseph's University, New York received $1,872,864 from the Department pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

As of July 10, 2020, St. Joseph's University, New York has distributed $1,295,250 in Emergency Financial Aid Grants under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

Approximately 3,886 St. Joseph's University, New York students at the institution are eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

As of July 10, 2020, 1,877 students have been sent an Emergency Financial Aid Grant as per Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

St. Joseph's University, New York launched its application process on June 8, 2020 to offer students emergency grants in the amounts listed above to alleviate the impact of campus closure due to COVID 19. Weekly emails were and are being sent every Tuesday to eligible students that have not received CARES Act funds. In addition, a series of SMS text messages were sent urging students to check their official St. Joseph's University, New York emails in order to apply for remaining CARES Act funds. Messages will continue to be sent to reach out to students who are potentially in need of assistance.

UPDATE: August 28, 2020

St. Joseph's University, New York has continued to disburse 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.

St. Joseph's University, New York received $1,872,864 from the Department pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

As of August 24, 2020, St. Joseph's University, New York has distributed $1,384,750 in Emergency Financial Aid Grants under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

Approximately 3886 St. Joseph's University, New York students at the institution are eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

As of August 24, 2020, 2,050 students have been sent an Emergency Financial Aid Grant as per Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

St. Joseph's University, New York launched its application process on June 8, 2020 to offer students emergency grants in the amounts listed above to alleviate the impact of campus closure due to COVID 19. Weekly emails were sent every Tuesday to eligible students that have not received CARES Act funds. In addition, a series of SMS text messages were sent urging students to check their official St. Joseph's University, New York emails in order to apply for remaining CARES Act funds. 

For the upcoming semester, a new round of emails will be sent to students after the start of the fall semester informing them that there are still limited funds available in the event that they are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Students will be required to demonstrate that they have financial need. In addition, if they received funding earlier, they may apply for a second grant if they are able to show that they require additional assistance. 
 

UPDATE: October 9, 2020

St. Joseph's University, New York has disbursed 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.

St. Joseph's University, New York received $1,872,864 from the Department pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

As of October 4, 2020, St. Joseph's University, New York has distributed $1,872,864 in Emergency Financial Aid Grants under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

Approximately 3886 St. Joseph's University, New York students at the institution are eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

As of October 4, 2020, 2,311 students have been sent an Emergency Financial Aid Grant as per Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

St. Joseph's University, New York launched its application process on June 8, 2020 to offer students emergency grants in the amounts listed above to alleviate the impact of campus closure due to COVID 19. Weekly emails were sent every Tuesday to eligible students that have not received CARES Act funds. In addition, a series of SMS text messages were sent urging students to check their official St. Joseph's University, New York emails in order to apply for remaining CARES Act funds. 

For the fall semester, a new round of emails were sent to students informing them that there are still limited funds available in the event that they are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Students were required to demonstrate that they have financial need. In addition, if they received funding earlier, they were eligible to apply for a second grant if they were able to show that they required additional assistance. As indicated above, all funding has been exhausted and the application process was shut down. 
 

UPDATE: July 9, 2021

St. Joseph's University, New York received $1,872,864 from the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund II authorized under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act 2021, Public Law 116-260, signed into law on December 27, 2020.

As per federal guidelines to prioritize students with the highest financial need, St. Joseph's University, New York adjusted its funding matrix to provide full-time Pell-eligible students with $1,250 grants and part-time Pell-eligible students with $750 grants. These students were contacted via email and given exclusive access to these funds starting the week of 2/17/21. One month later during the week of 3/16/21, non-Pell eligible students were eligible to certify and receive grants in the amount of $1,000 for full-time students and $500 for part-time students.

Weekly emails were sent to students informing them of the availability of these funds and following self-certification through the University’s financial aid office, students were mailed checks to the address on their FAFSA in the amount that they were eligible for.

In total, St. Joseph's University, New York awarded checks to 1,888 St. Joseph's students during the spring 2021 semester from these funds, totaling $1,846,949, with $25,915 remaining.

UPDATE: October 7, 2021

St. Joseph's University, New York received $1,872,864 from the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund II authorized under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act 2021, Public Law 116-260, signed into law on December 27, 2020.

In addition, it received $5,541,780 from the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III authorized under the American Rescue Plan of 2021.

Students enrolled in summer courses were emailed to advise them of the availability of these funds and following self-certification through the University’s financial aid office, students were mailed $500 checks to the address on their FAFSA.

In total, St. Joseph's University, New York awarded checks to 502 St. Joseph's students during the summer 2021 session from both funds, clearing out the remaining $24,915 in CRRSA money and awarding $226,085 from the American Rescue Plan funds, with $5,315,695 remaining.

As per federal guidelines to prioritize students with the highest financial need, St. Joseph's University, New York adjusted its funding matrix to provide Pell-eligible students with $1,750 grants and non-Pell eligible students with $1,000 grants for the fall 2021-2022 academic year.

For the fall 2021-2022 semester, the application process was activated on September 13, 2021 and all students enrolled at the University were advised of the availability of these funds. Students are in the process of completing the certification form and checks will be mailed to the addresses on file on or around the third week of October.
 

UPDATE: January 10, 2022

St. Joseph's University, New York received $5,541,780 from the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III authorized under the American Rescue Plan of 2021.

As per the guidance offered by the U.S. Department of Education, approximately 4,687 St. Joseph's University, New York students were eligible to receive funds from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III as authorized under the American Rescue Plan of 2021. 

After awarding $226,085 from American Rescue Plan funds during the summer 2021 session, with $5,315,695 remaining for the fall, St. Joseph's University, New York adjusted its funding matrix to provide Pell-eligible students with $1,750 grants and non-Pell eligible students with $1,000 grants for the fall 2021-2022 academic year as per federal guidelines to prioritize students with the highest financial need.

For the fall 2021-2022 semester, the application process was activated on September 13, 2021 and all students enrolled at the University were advised of the availability of these funds. Students that completed the certification form and checks were mailed checks to the addresses on file starting the last week October. Throughout the semester, targeted messages were sent via email and text message across different St. Joseph's University, New York communications platforms to inform students about the availability of these funds.

At the conclusion of the fall 2021 semester, 3,020 students received checks totaling $3,971,085, with $1,570,695 remaining in American Rescue Plan funds. At the start of the spring 2022 semester, the application process will be reactivated and communications will go out to inform students that there are emergency funds available to help them mitigate financial hardship as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
 

UPDATE: April 7, 2022

St. Joseph's University, New York received $5,541,780 from the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III authorized under the American Rescue Plan of 2021.

As per the guidance offered by the U.S. Department of Education, approximately 4,687 St. Joseph's University, New York students were eligible to receive funds from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III as authorized under the American Rescue Plan of 2021.

After awarding $226,085 from American Rescue Plan funds during the summer 2021 session, with $5,315,695 remaining for the fall, St. Joseph's University, New York adjusted its funding matrix to provide Pell-eligible students with $1,750 grants and non-Pell eligible students with $1,000 grants for the fall 2021-2022 academic year as per federal guidelines to prioritize students with the highest financial need.

To disburse the remaining $1,570,695 in American Rescue Plan funds and to ensure that the highest number of student would be eligible to receive these funds, the University elected to adjust its matrix to provide Pell-eligible students with $1,000 grants and non-Pell eligible students with $500 grants for the spring 2022 semester. The application process was  reactivated on February 2 and communications were sent to inform all students of the availability of emergency funds to help them mitigate financial hardship as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In total, the University issued emergency grants to 2,450 students for a total amount of $1,630,000, fully exhausting the last of the student emergency grants funds provided by the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III. An additional $78,555 of institutional funds provided under HEERF III were used to cover the remaining students who applied after the student funds were exhausted. The application process has since been shut down and all grant checks have been cut and sent to students.

Information regarding the University's use of CARES Act institutional fund

Click one of the links below to view that quarter report.