Most Ariz. college students await aid

Schools still finalizing plans for CARES money

Nearly a month ago, the federal education department announced billions of dollars would flow to college students throughout the country, with sizable chunks of money headed to Arizona institutions, to help them financially as COVID-19 disrupted their education and employment.

But many Arizona students, including those at the three public universities and Maricopa Community Colleges, still haven’t seen the money. Grand Canyon University, meanwhile, already has distributed checks.

Students — who, depending on their circumstances, may not qualify for stimulus checks or unemployment insurance — say they need the cash from their colleges to pay bills and stay in school.

The stream of money for higher education, $14 billion in total, was included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief,

and Economic Security Act. It is separate from funds intended to help small businesses and individuals. Of the $14 billion, $6.3 billion was to be distributed immediately to colleges, which would be used for direct emergency cash grants to students disrupted by COVID-19.

Some colleges said they haven’t received the funds yet, while others haven’t finalized plans for how to get the money to students.

Arizona State University said it has not received funds. The University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University have received the money, but have not determined how best to distribute it. The Maricopa County Community College District board voted last week to accept the federal funds, a required step because of the size of the grant.

Like some other bureaucratic processes intended to help manage the financial fallout from COVID-19, the money hasn’t quickly landed in people’s pockets. When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the allocations on April 9, she noted that the department “prioritized getting funding out the door quickly to college students who need it most.”

Guidance from the department that detailed acceptable uses for the emergency grants for students came out later that month.

Universities can’t use money intended for students to reimburse the institutions for refunds for tuition, room and board or fees. They can’t use the student portion of funds to pay student workers or reimburse themselves for technology purchased to help students.

The formula the CARES Act used to figure out how much colleges and universities received includes how many full-time students are eligible for Pell grants, the total population of the college, and the number of students who were not enrolled full-time in online courses before the COVID-19 pandemic, the department said.

Students needing help now

Arizona students are still waiting for the help, and their financial situations are growing more precarious.

Alyssa Foster, a junior studying political science at Arizona State University, could use the money to pay her rent. She and her partner have both lost work. Her stimulus check went to an old bank account and she was told it could take until the fall for it to get to her.

She saw reports that ASU would receive more than $63 million through the CARES Act, but hasn’t heard anything from ASU about where that money is or when it could arrive. A community college she previously attended in Portland, Oregon, for instance, sent her and other students an email explaining what was happening with the funding.

“I’ve been like reaching out to ASU like, ‘Hey, I’m putting 90% of my effort into you, and you just got all this money. What are you doing for the students?’” she said.

She has bills that are due and that are delinquent. She’s a month behind on rent. She signed up for summer classes, and tuition is due soon for those. She could always take out more loans, she said, but she doesn’t want to dig a bigger hole.

She understands ASU isn’t responsible for her financial situation and didn’t cause the pandemic, but she pays tuition and will continue to. She thinks ASU should want to at least protect their investment by helping her stay in school.

“I might have to take a break from school to literally just work full time to kind of get out of the red,” Foster said. “I don’t want to have to do that, but a little tiny help from the school, I wouldn’t have to do that.”

ASU and the federal government already have her information on file through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, she said. They should be able to see she’s in need.

“They’re not just going to hand out cash willy-nilly, I understand that, but they have our financial information and they know exactly my financial situation,” Foster said. “They know that I am contributing very little. I’m 30 years old, I’m not getting help from my parents or anything like that, they know exactly my financial situation right now.”

In a statement, ASU spokeswoman Katie Paquet said the university has a “large student population with varying needs and we have a team of individuals from across the university that are working to determine the university’s approach to the distribution of funds.”

Once the university finalizes its plan, it will report back to the Department of

Education, then the CARES Act funds will be sent to the university and distributed to students, Paquet said.

What’s happening at different schools

ASU: ASU will receive $63.5 million in total, $31.8 million of which must be allocated as emergency financial aid grants to students, a document compiled by the U.S. Department of Education detailing each college’s allocation states.

So far, ASU said it has not yet received any portion of the funds, but plans to access the full $63 million available to the university.

Paquet said the school hasn’t determined how to distribute the money to students.

UA: UA qualified for nearly $31 million overall, about $15.5 million of which must go to students for emergency cash infusions.

UA spokeswoman Pam Scott said the university has received the student portion of the funds and was working to vet a plan with campus leaders on how to distribute them.

The university plans to begin its disbursement this week, she said. More information will be released once a plan is approved, she said.

NAU: The university qualified for about $23.6 million overall, with about $11.8 million required to go directly to students.

NAU spokeswoman Kimberly Ott said NAU received the student portion of the funds last week.

“We are currently finalizing our distribution process and will be communicating with students soon,” she said.

GCU: GCU previously committed to disbursing the entire amount it will receive, about $22.4 million, to students instead of just the 50% required.

GCU received the first half of the funds two weeks ago and mailed out the majority of it, about 75%, to students on May 1, GCU spokesman Bob Romantic said. The university wanted to treat students equally, so each eligible student received a $610 check, he said.

The rest of that initial disbursement will be sent out once GCU gets further guidance from the DOE for how it should treat students who hadn’t filled out a FAFSA for this school year, Romantic said.

The university expects the second half of funds to arrive this week or next, he said. GCU said expects it will lose more than the $11.175 million that’s allotted for institutional aid because of COVID-19-related losses, but still will give the money to students instead, Romantic said.

GCU also has asked for clarity on whether they can use the CARES funds to help online-only students, Romantic said.

“Whatever the Department of Education decides related to that, GCU is committed to providing 100% of funds to students,” he said.

Maricopa Community Colleges: The system’s campuses collectively qualify for about $44 million, board documents show. About $21 million must go directly to students for emergency aid. (Six of the colleges qualify for funds set aside for Hispanic-serving institutions as well.)

The governing board approved the acceptance of the funds last week. A board policy requires a vote to accept grants of more than $100,000, the colleges’ spokesman, Matt Hasson, said in an email.

The chancellor and presidents are currently working to finalize plans to distribute the money, Hasson said.

Taliesin: For schools that were set to receive less than $500,000 according to the DOE’s calculations, the department said on April 30 that it would allow these smaller institutions to receive up to $500,000. Calculations by the department show the school would qualify for about $3,500 in total aid according to the formula used for larger schools.

One notable school in Arizona that would qualify for this infusion: the School of Architecture at Taliesin.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported last week that the school, which has been in financial turmoil and faces an impending closure, was planning to apply for the money.

The school is working to obtain the newly available CARES Act money. “If we do receive it, it will be split between supporting students and offsetting the costs incurred by recent events,” Aaron Betsky, the school’s president, told the Chronicle.

“I’ve been like reaching out to ASU like, ‘Hey, I’m putting 90% of my effort into you, and you just got all this money. What are you doing for the students?’” Alyssa Foster A junior studying political science at Arizona State University