NASFAA Mention: This University Was Allotted More Cares Act Money Than Any Other. Why Didn’t These Students Get Any?

"When Arizona State University transitioned to online-only classes in March, Ja’Mya Williams’s grades began to fall," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. 

"Without a laptop, the campus library, and her after-class tutoring, the freshman biological-sciences major was forced to complete her assignments on her cellphone or at her friend’s house, and struggled to keep up with her honors-level courses."

In order to maintain her GPA to stay on track to get into medical school, she dropped three courses in April. As a result, she lost her financial aid for the semester, she said, which put her in debt, uncertain whether she could afford to attend Arizona State in the fall. Looking for help, she contacted the honors college and the financial-aid office.

Arizona State had access to a pot of money intended to help students just like Williams. The institution was allotted more federal money from the stimulus relief package within the Cares Act than any other university in the country: $63.5 million, at least half of which must go directly to students whose lives were disrupted by the coronavirus.

But the university has still not drawn on its Cares Act money or distributed any of it to students. Instead, the institution says it is saving those funds for future semesters as the pandemic draws on, and has distributed existing, in-house funds to students whose lives were disrupted in the spring. But some low-income students say the university failed to notify them that institutional assistance was available, or they were turned away by the financial-aid office when they asked for assistance."

..."But the vast majority of other higher institutions have distributed at least some Cares Act relief to students, according to a survey by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators."

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

 

 

Publication Date: 7/10/2020

View Desktop Version