Arizona State will distribute CARES Act funds to students

Arizona State University students will receive automatic awards from about $500 to $6,000 from the nearly $32 million the school was allocated by the federal government for direct student support, the university announced Friday.

The distribution came after months of deliberation and mounting pressure from students and families.

ASU President Michael Crow sent an email to students early Friday announcing the finalization of the plans for disbursement of CARES Act funds.

The university estimates the funds will reach 14,000 of the more than 100,000 students enrolled at ASU.

Students will be allocated the funds directly, with the awards posted to their student account.

ASU’s announcement comes nearly two months after the state’s other large universities began CARES Act fund distribution. All had paid out some of the CARES Act funding to their spring semester students.

Crow said in May that the university would wait to spend the coronavirus relief funds to focus on helping students stay in college. Disbursements are now set to begin in August and last through the spring 2021 semester.

Students and their parents repeatedly asked about the money, some saying they were waiting on the funds to help pay overdue bills.

The university was allotted $63.5 million through the CARES Act, more than any other college in the country. Of that, $31.8 million was required to be spent on emergency financial aid grants to students.

The stream of money for higher education, $14 billion in total, was included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The fund, called the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, 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.

The nearly $32 million in funds will be awarded to students who demonstrate financial need to “remain on the path toward graduation,” the university said.

The largest portion of the money will be directed toward students who do not already receive institutional aid from the university.