HEERF

ARP (HEERF III)

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund

Tompkins Cortland Community College received Student Aid funding under section 2003(7) of the ARP. This program, with some changes, provides supplemental funds to the CARES Act section 18004(a)(1) program. Tompkins Cortland Community College signed and returned to the Education Department a Certification and Agreement as required under the CARES Act section 18004(a)(1) program. We acknowledge that by drawing down the ARP funds, our institution agrees to be bound by the conditions set forth in the ARP Supplemental Agreement including using 100 percent of these funds, $3,749,143 to provide emergency aid grants to students.

Eligibility

You may be eligible to receive a block award if you:

• Have completed the 2021-2022 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• Have an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) within the following range: 0 – $14,615
• Were enrolled as of census date and had full liability
• Are an international student or non-citizen who is not eligible for federal financial aid

Determination of Award Amounts

Tompkins Cortland Community College will disburse half of the award in the fall 2021 semester and will also make another disbursement in spring 2022, based on student enrollment and individual eligibility. The remaining Discretionary Awards will be disbursed by the end of spring 2022.

Block Awards

Awards will vary by enrollment level (full- or part-time) and EFC. Eligible students will receive an email indicating their individual award amount. The following chart indicates block award amounts based on an estimate of 953 eligible students enrolled in the fall 2021 semester:

Application Instructions

No application is required for receipt of HEERF III Student Aid block awards. Eligible students will be notified of their grant amounts and information about delivery of funds via email.

Allowable Expenses

HEERF III student aid funds may be used for any component of the student’s cost of attendance or emergency costs that arise due to Coronavirus, including:

• Tuition
• Food
• Housing
• Health care (including mental health care)
• Childcare
• Mental Health Care

Repayment

HEERF III student aid funds will not need to be repaid.

Impact on Financial Aid

HEERF III student aid funds will not impact your current or future financial aid.

Distribution of funds

November 2021 Email to Students regarding Direct Emergency Grant under HEERF III:

Subject: Federal Government’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) Student Aid Funds – Direct Emergency Grants to Students

Dear Student:

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, funds have been made available through the American Rescue Plan Act to award emergency grants to students for expenses related to any component of the student’s cost of attendance or for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus. Eligible expenses include tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care), or childcare. The Campus has deemed you eligible to receive an emergency grant in the amount of $XXX. This is not a loan and will not need to be paid back and will not affect your financial aid award amounts for academic year 2021-2022. Students must understand it is their responsibility to notify the Financial Aid Office immediately if they will not incur expenses that meet or exceed the amount of their emergency grant.

You do have the option of applying all or a portion of your emergency grant to your outstanding account balance from fall 2021. You have an outstanding balance of «Balance_due». You have been sent a DocuSign form to communicate the amount you want applied towards the balance due. You have 10 days to notify us in writing if you want to use any of your funds to pay this outstanding amount. Any emergency grant not used for the balance due is refunded to you.

You will receive a direct payment of your emergency grant by electronic transfer to your bank account or by check if you do not use the funds to pay your outstanding balance. The instructions to set up the direct deposit of your funds are below. If you do not set up direct deposit the emergency grant will be sent as a check to the address on file. If the check is returned we will make three attempts to secure an accurate address. If the check is not cashed within 90 days the check will be cancelled and the emergency grant funds will be given to someone else. For these reasons we strongly encourage you to set up direct deposit.

• Access your myTC3 account using your username and password
• Select myINFO
• Select Make a Payment
• Set up your Nelnet account if prompted
• Select Manage Refunds
• Follow instructions (You will need your bank routing number and your account number)

Tompkins Cortland Community College Institutional Reporting:

Quarterly

Student ARP emergency grant funding | June 30, 2021
Student ARP emergency grant funding | December 31, 2021
Student ARP emergency grant funding | March 31, 2022

Federal Disclosure Reporting Chart

Below is the combined quarterly reporting summary for the HEERF Student Aid Funds made available through CARES, CRRSAA, and the ARP satisfying all required reporting elements.

CRRSAA (HEERF II)

HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund II (HEERF II) is authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA), Public Law 116-260, signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020. Tompkins Cortland Community College is allocated $922,589 from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II) to distribute to students in the form of emergency grants and $3,292,934 in Institutional Funds.

Institutions of higher education are authorized by HEERF to award emergency grants to students for eligible cost of attendance expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to COVID-19. Eligible expenses include food, housing, course materials, technology, medical expenses, and childcare expenses.

Tompkins Cortland Community College Institutional Reporting

Student CRRSAA emergency grant funding | June 30, 2021
Student CRRSAA emergency grant funding | September 30, 2021
Student CRRSAA emergency grant funding | December 31, 2021

CARES (HEERF I)

CARES Act and Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund

Under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act enacted by Congress on March 27, 2020, Tompkins Cortland Community College is allocated $922,589 from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) to distribute to students in the form of emergency grants.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tompkins Cortland Community College transitioned all courses to an online delivery format on March 30, 2020. Institutions of higher education are authorized by HEERF to award emergency grants to students for eligible cost of attendance expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to COVID-19. Eligible expenses include food, housing, course materials, technology, medical expenses, and childcare expenses.

Eligibility

To receive CARES Act emergency grant funding, a student must satisfy the following criteria:

Enrolled spring 2020 after March 30, 2020  

Students who withdrew from the College or ceased attending all classes prior to or on March 30, 2020 are not eligible for CARES Act Emergency Grant funding since they stopped attending classes prior to the conversion to online learning.

Must not be accepted as an online degree seeking student

Eligible for federal Title IV financial aid as demonstrated by having a 2019-2020 FAFSA on file with a valid estimated family contribution (EFC) as of June 30, 2020. 

Criteria for Title IV aid eligibility include the following: 

     U.S. citizenship or eligible noncitizen
     Valid social security number
     High school diploma or approved equivalent
     Matriculation into a degree program
     Not default on federal student loans, nor owe a repayment on a federal grant
    Selective service registration for male students, 18 years of age or older

Students must be academically eligible to receive Title IV aid spring 2020 and be compliant with standards of satisfactory academic progress.

CARES Act Emergency Grant Award Amounts

Tompkins Cortland Community College will make CARES Act emergency grants available to Title IV eligible students enrolled spring 2020 as of March 30, 2020. The College will use two award methodologies. First priority will be tiered awards to all Pell Grant eligible students based on their enrollment and campus housing status; second priority will be an application process for all Title IV eligible students, including Pell Grant recipients.  

The College will identify Title IV eligible students and notify them of their award amount by way of an email to their TC3 email account. Text messaging may be used to nudge eligible students to check their TC3 email for important CARES Act emergency grant information.

Award Methodology 1
The first methodology provides emergency grants to all Pell Grant eligible students based on enrollment and campus housing status as of March 30, 2020. The amount of the grant is calculated by the College based on the anticipated number of spring 2020 Pell Grant eligible students and 90% of the federal allocation. 

CARES Act Emergency Grant Methodology 1 Tiered Awards

Pell eligible | not living on campus                    
Full-time nonresidential (12 > credits) | $750.00               
Half-time nonresidential (6 > 12 credits) | $375.00            
Less than half-time nonresidential (3 > 5 credits) | $187.50

Pell eligible | living on campus
Full-time residential | $1,500
Half-time residential | $750

Students need not apply for an emergency grant in method one. Emailed award notifications will instruct Pell Grant eligible students to log into their myTC3 account and complete a CARES Act Student Certification Form. Students qualify for payment upon receipt of the electronically signed student certification form. Payments are made weekly as part of the regular weekly disbursement process. Funds are unencumbered and paid to eligible students regardless of financial holds or outstanding institutional liability.

Award Methodology 2
The second methodology allows for the distribution of the remaining 10% of the federal allocation through an application process for an award amount no greater than $1,000. Eligible student populations under methodology two include:

Pell Grant recipients who received an award under Methodology 1 may request additional funding for COVID-19 related expenses for food, housing, course material, technology, health care and childcare. 

Title IV eligible students who are not Pell eligible may request funding for COVID-19 related expenses for food, housing, course material, technology, health care and childcare. 

Funds will be distributed to eligible students enrolled spring 2020 until the CARES Act emergency grant allocation is exhausted.

Disbursement

CARES Act emergency grant funds are disbursed on a weekly basis to students who have electronically submitted their CARES Act Student Certification Form in Methodology 1 or the CARES Act Emergency Grant Application in Methodology 2. Students will be paid via check or direct deposit. 

Direct deposit setup instructions

Access your myTC3 account with your username and password
Select myINFO
Select Make A Payment
Select Manage Refunds
Follow on-screen instructions

Impact on Existing Financial Aid Eligibility

CARES Act emergency grant funding does not impact student aid eligibility in any way.

Repayment

CARES Act emergency grants are considered gift aid and are not required to be repaid.

Distribution of Funds

Tompkins Cortland Community College has signed and returned to the Department of Education the Certification and Agreement and 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.

Tompkins Cortland Community College has received $922,589 for student aid from the Department of Education pursuant to the Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

*Students are counted as non-duplicative net students. Non-duplicative students refers to those students that may have received multiple distributions and therefore are only counted once under the first distribution.  Net students refers to an earlier student count that included students who never cashed their checks, those checks were cancelled and their funds were redistributed to other students in a later quarter. 

Questions

Students should check their TC3 email for specific instructions on their CARES Act eligibility. Questions can be emailed to aid@tompkinscortland.edu.

HEERF Institutional Funds 

Quarterly Reports

September 30, 2020 - 00678800_HEERF_Q32020_101020
December 31, 2020 - 00678800_HEERF_Q42020_011021
March 31, 2021 - 00678800_HEERF_Q12021_041021
June 30, 2021 - 00678800_HEERF_Q22021_071021
September 30, 2021 - 00678800_HEERF_Q32021_101021
December 31, 2021 - 00678800_HEERF_Q42021_102522
March 31, 2022 - 00678800_HEERF_Q12022_102522

Combined HEERF Student Aid & Institutional Funds Quarterly Reports 

June 30, 2022 - 00678800_HEERF_Q22022_102522
September 30, 2022 - 00678800_HEERF_Q32022_100722
December 31, 2022 - 00678800_HEERF_Q42022_011023