CARES Act Update – Sandhills Community College
CARES Act Student Update
Reporting Element #1 – Acknowledgement
Sandhills Community College has signed and returned to the Department of Education the Funding Certification and Agreement for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students on April 20, 2020. No less than 50% of the total funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) will be awarded directly to students.
Reporting Element #2 – Total Funds Received
Sandhills Community College received $1,016,529.00 from the Department of Education pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.
Reporting Elements #3 & #5 – Total Amount Disbursed & Total Number of Recipients
Spring 2020
As of Friday, May 15, 2020, the College distributed $649,600 to 658 curriculum students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for the Spring 2020 semester for “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus”.
As of Friday, June 5, the College distributed a total of $29,925 to 57 continuing education students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus”.
As of Wednesday, June 24, 2020, the College distributed a total of $689,500 to 734 curriculum students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for the Spring 2020 semesters “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus”.
As of Friday, July 24, 2020, the College distributed a total of $691,800 to 738 curriculum students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for the Spring 2020 semesters “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus”.
Summer 2020
As of Friday, July 24, 2020, the College distributed a total of $207,000.00 to 345 curriculum students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for the Summer 2020 semesters for “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus”. Some of the CARES Act recipients for the Summer 2020 semester also received CARES Act funds for the Spring 2020 semester.
On July 31, 2020, the College closed the awarding process for the Spring 2020 and Summer 2020 semesters.
Fall 2020
As of Friday, August 21, 2020, the College distributed a total of $600 to 1 curriculum student under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for the Fall 2020 semester for “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus”.
As of Friday, September 30, 2020, the College distributed a total of $2,600 to 5 curriculum students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for the Fall 2020 semester for “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus”.
As of Thursday, December 31, 2020, the College distributed a total of $6,200 to 11 curriculum students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for the Fall 2020 semester for “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus”.
On December 18, 2020, the College closed the awarding process for the Fall 2020 semester.
Spring 2021
As of Wednesday, March 31, 2021, the College distributed a total of $96,804 to 349 curriculum students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for the Spring 2021 semester for “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus”.
On March 31, 2021, the College closed the awarding process for the Spring 2021 semester. As of March 31, 2021 all CARES Act funds were awarded.
Summary of funds disbursed by semester:
Spring 2020 – Curriculum – $691,800 to 738 students
Spring 2020 – Continuing Education – $29,925 to 57 students
Summer 2020 – Curriculum – $207,000.00 to 345 students
Fall 2020 – Curriculum – $6,200 to 11 students
Spring 2021 – Curriculum – $96,804 to 349
Reporting Elements #4 – Total Number of Eligible Student
For the Spring 2020 semester, there are 2,004 curriculum students 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. Additional federal regulations require that the student be enrolled in at least one face-to-face or hybrid class in order to qualify for CARES Act funding.
For the Summer 2020 semester, there are 1,000 curriculum students 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. Additional federal regulations require that the student be enrolled in at least one face-to-face or hybrid class in order to qualify for CARES Act funding.
For the Fall 2020 semester, there are approximately 1,900 curriculum students 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. Additional federal regulations require that the student be enrolled in at least one face-to-face or hybrid class in order to qualify for CARES Act funding.
For the Spring 2021 semester, there are approximately 1,750 curriculum students 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. Because these CARES funds now fall under CRRSAA regulations, these funds were awarded to students taking traditional, hybrid, and/or online classes.
Reporting Element #6 – Methods for Awarding
In the College’s first phase of awarding, funds were automatically distributed to students who demonstrated the greatest need as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Department of Education (Zero Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) Pell Recipients for Spring 2020). The award amount for this population of students ranged between $600 – $1100 for expenses that included upgrading of their laptop or home computer, monthly internet costs, and/or food needs off-campus.
In the College’s second phase of awarding, an application was marketed and made available to all other Spring and Summer 2020 curriculum students eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (minus those awarded in the first phase). The award amount for this population of students ranged between $100 – $600 for expenses that included upgrading of their laptop or home computer and monthly internet costs.
In the College’s third phase of awarding, an application was marketed and made available to all other continuing education students eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The award amount for this population of students was $525 for expenses that included upgrading of their laptop or home computer and monthly internet costs.
In the College’s fourth phase of awarding, funds were automatically distributed to curriculum students who demonstrated the greatest need as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Department of Education (Zero Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) Pell Recipients for Summer 2020). The award amount for this population of students was $600 for expenses that included monthly internet costs and/or food needs off-campus.
In the College’s fifth phase of awarding, an application was marketed and made available to all other Fall 2020 curriculum students eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The award amount for this population of students ranged between $200 – $600 for expenses that included monthly internet costs and/or food needs off-campus.
In the College’s sixth phase of awarding, an application was made available to Spring 2021 curriculum students eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. In addition, funds were automatically distributed to students who demonstrated the greatest need as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Department of Education (Automatic Zero Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) Pell Recipients for Spring 2021). The award amount for this population of students was $252 for transportation expenses.
Reporting Element #7 – Information Provided to Students
The source of funds used to provide these awards was provided to the students at the time that the College awarded or marketed to all eligible participants.
CARES Act Institutional Update
The Sandhills Community College received $1,016,528 CARES Act for institutional COVID related expenditures. As of Wednesday September 30, 2020, the College spent $266,428 of the allocation. The College distributed additional scholarships totaling $7,344. Technology purchases for students and classrooms equaled $75,340. $6,219 was spent on PPE products for campus safety and operations. With the need for additional sections and smaller classroom sizes, the College spent $87,126 to accommodate current social distancing guidelines. To support our students with online learning and ensure testing integrity as well as improve student communication, the College spent $90,399.
December 31, 2020
As of December 31, 2020, Sandhills Community College spent an additional $516,599 in institutional COVID-related expenses. $13,978 was expensed for technology purchases. $23,771 was spent on PPE products and a staff member was hired to manage campus contact tracing. Curriculum, Continuing Education, and IT employees required additional workloads and training to transfer courses to online formats. Expenditures associated with these efforts were $460,863. To assist students transitioning to all online services, student services employees were paid $17,987 for the additional hours and workload required.
March 31, 2021
CARES Act institutional funds were fully expended as of March 31, 2021. $32,100 was expensed to improve campus safety, purchase PPE items, hire additional housekeeping employees, and continue the services of our contact tracing employee. Technology purchases cost $30,341 and included webcams, expanded outdoor wi-fi equipment, and computers. Additional sections for classroom social distancing cost $7,934. Software purchases for student engagement and online budget management were $72,305. Staff members to support additional IT service needs cost $26,978. To improve data security, our ERP was moved to the Cloud. $51,608 was the cost related to this transition. Online forms were implemented for safety and data security. The cost associated with this project was $12,235.