ARP Act

CARES Act established the Higher Education Emergency Relief fund (HEERF) to assist enrolled students (excluding exclusively online students and non-degree seeking students) for expenses related to the disruption of on-campus operations due to the pandemic in Spring 2020. CARES funding to students has been fully exhausted. CRRSAA is a supplemental for HEERF to assist Spring 2021 enrolled students who have “exceptional need” with their account balance or with emergency costs that have directly resulted from Coronavirus. ARP is a third supplemental for HEERF to assist ANY student who was enrolled at ANY point since the pandemic started in March 2020 and who has “exceptional need” with their account balance or with emergency costs that have directly resulted from Coronavirus. However, ARP must prioritize undergraduate, domestic students in the allocation of funding.

Because CARES in Spring 2020 was administered to assist students who were on-campus during the pandemic’s disruption to on-campus operations, all on-campus students at the time of the disruption were given some amount of CARES to assist with the sudden loss of on-campus services. On the other hand, CRRSAA is meant for those with “exceptional need,” and as such only those students with a Pell eligible EFC (EFC = expected family contribution as determined on your FAFSA) are eligible for an automatic CRRSAA grant. Likewise, students with an Pell eligible EFC are eligible for an automatic ARP Grant. The distinction between CRRSAA and ARP is that undergraduate students are prioritized under ARP. If you have a need that has arisen as a direct result of Coronavirus, please contact the Financial Aid Office for more information.

If you were not enrolled during Spring 2020 or if you were enrolled in an exclusively online program in Spring 2020, you were not eligible for CARES. For CRRSAA, you were identified as an enrolled student for Spring 2021 with a Pell eligible EFC (EFC = expected family contribution as determined on your FAFSA). Consequently, you received a CRRSAA Grant. Likewise, for ARP, you were identified as a currently enrolled student for Spring 2021 or Summer 2021 with a Pell eligible EFC and, as such, received an ARP Grant.

If you are identified as an enrolled undergraduate student for Spring 2021 or Summer 2021 with a Pell eligible EFC (EFC = expected family contribution as determined on your FAFSA) at the time that we received the ARP funding, you will receive a ARP Grant.

Yes. However, because we do not have a FAFSA on you (non-citizens do not file a FAFSA), we will need an appeal form to determine your level of need. Please contact the Office of Financial for an appeal form.

Because ARP is meant for undergraduate students with exceptional need (those with a Pell Grant eligible EFC (EFC = expected family contribution as determined on your FAFSA)), eligible students were identified by reviewing students’ EFCs, and students’ ARP Grant amounts were determined by the student’s EFC according to the table below:

Once ARP was signed, legislators began work on establishing and issuing guidance to schools regarding expectations for and application of the funding. SWU then had to wait until it actually received its funding. Additionally, SWU had to wait until it received each student’s ARP Authorization Form, which tells SWU how to process the grant for each student (be sure to check SWU email for the ARP Authorization form). Funding was received 05/25/2021, at which time SWU immediately began writing and administering policy to identify eligible students.

No. But, the expectation is that the ARP grant will be used, if not as a financial aid grant for the student’s account balance, then as an emergency grant directly to student for emergency costs that have directly resulted from Coronavirus.

Students are not required to apply the grant to their account balances, but it is definitely an option if a student has an account balance. ARP Grant eligible students will receive a ARP Grant Authorization Form via their SWU email. This form, once submitted by the student, will tell SWU how each student wants the grant applied: either to the account balance or directly to the student to be used toward emergency costs that have directly resulted from Coronavirus.

Please contact the Financial Aid Office if you have an immediate need directly related to Coronavirus. We will continue to make requests based on individual needs with appropriate demonstration of need.

Please contact the Financial Aid Office if you have an immediate need directly related to Coronavirus. We will continue to make requests based on individual needs with appropriate demonstration of need.

At this time, we do not have an answer to this question. The US Department of Education is constantly re-evaluating the effects of Coronavirus. As information is released, SWU will communicate any and all information that affects student grant funding.