Skip navigation

CARES Act, CRRSAA and ARP Funds

Emergency Financial Aid Grants have become available to UCO students through the federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. The Fund was created in March 2020 in response to the coronavirus and provided emergency financial aid grants to students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the coronavirus. The Fund received additional funds in December 2020 and March 2021 and the allowable uses of emergency financial aid grant funds was expanded to include any component of a student’s cost of attendance at UCO or for emergency costs that arise due to the coronavirus.

If you have been identified to be eligible to apply to receive these funds, you will be notified by UCO to your UCO email address with instructions on applying.

You will only need to answer a few basic questions and for many students, we may be able to process your grant request after we receive simple instructions from you.

Students receiving emergency financial aid grant funds may use the funds for any component of the students cost of attendance or for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus. This means eligible students may use their emergency grant funds for tuition, food, housing, health care or child care. Eligible students may also have their grant applied to their outstanding balance at UCO which, if not paid, could otherwise limit future enrollment.

Some important aspects of the emergency grants are:

  • The funds provided under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund are grants, so they do not need to be repaid.
  • You can have the grant funds applied to your outstanding balance owed UCO.
  • Because the funds are grants, you do not need to report back to UCO how you spend the grant funds. We do, however, suggest you keep records for your own benefit.
  • Eligible students do not have to complete a FAFSA form to be eligible to receive an emergency financial aid grant.
  • According to the Internal Revenue Service, emergency financial aid grants are not includible in the student’s gross income for tax purposes.
  • The emergency financial aid grant funds may be used for a student’s cost of attendance such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care and child care.
  • The emergency financial aid grant will not count against your family contribution for determining eligibility for additional financial aid.

If you have experienced significant changes in your circumstances including a loss of income, you have the ability to have your financial aid package reviewed. 

To do so, complete the Special Circumstances Form found at https://go.uco.edu/faforms.  If you have questions, you may call us at 405.974.2727, or visit us at the Broncho One Stop, Nigh University Center Room 124. You can also browse help articles and chat with a live agent in our Broncho OneStop Help Center.

For more information regarding CARES Act.

Reports

CARES Act I

Monthly Reports

Quarterly Reports

CARES Act II

Monthly Reports

Quarterly Reports

CARES Act Relief Strengthening Institutions

Monthly Reports

Quarterly Reports

HEERF

Quarterly Reports 

Cares Act

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which established and funded the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), directs institutions of higher education to use no less than 50% of the funds allocated under the act to provide emergency financial aid grants to eligible students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus. These emergency financial aid grants are expressly limited under the act to students’ “expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus (including eligible expenses under a student’s cost of attendance, such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care and child care)."

The criteria for determining a student’s eligibility for such emergency grants have been established in recent weeks by the U.S. Department of Education.  UCO intends to distribute the emergency financial aid grants in accordance with the statutory limitations under the act and eligibility requirements established by the Department of Education.  In the coming days, UCO will send emails to all students regarding eligibility for the emergency financial aid grants and directions for eligible students to apply for a grant.

  1. Students who completed a 2019/2020 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will receive a simple application to complete to request CARES Act assistance.
  2. Students determined to be ineligible for federal grants under U.S. Department of Education regulations will receive an email explaining the basis of their ineligibility for CARES Act assistance.  Examples include concurrent students, international students, undocumented students, non-degree seeking students, students who dropped or withdrew prior to March 13, 2020, students ineligible for Title IV funding and students enrolled in programs that are 100% online.
  3. Students who are not excluded but did not complete a 2019/2020 FAFSA may be eligible for CARES Act funding, although the requirements for doing so have not been issued by the Department of Education.  These students are advised to begin the process of completing a 2020/2021 FAFSA to possibly expedite the process