COVID-19 Updates & Response

Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES Act)

Updated 06/19/2020, at 5:00 p.m.

• Recipient’s Funding Certification and Agreement
• Northland Community & Technical College has received $677,705 from the Department of Education pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.
• As of June 17, 2020, Northland Community & Technical College has distributed $677,705 in Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004 (a)(1) of the CARES Act.
• Northland Community & Technical College identified approximately 1360 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.
• As of May 8, 2020, 1355 students have received or were sent an Emergency Financial Aid Grant under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
• Northland Community & Technical College worked closely and with guidance from the Minnesota State system office in determining and identifying eligible students. Northland Community & Technical College’s President devised a plan on how much each student would receive based on information provided in the CARES Act. Northland Community & Technical College’s plan for the CARES Act fund was submitted and approved by the Minnesota State System Office leadership prior to fund disbursal.
• An email was sent on April 20, 2020 to all Northland Community & Technical College student’s college-assigned email account notifying them of the possibility of emergency funding through the CARES Act. In that email, all students were asked to make sure their addresses were correct and direct deposit was set-up (if that was their preferred disbursement method). The email outlined that there was no application process for the initial grant and eligible students would be notified at a later date via their college-assigned email account.
• An email was sent on May 7, 2020 on behalf of the College President to all grant eligible students via their Northland Community & Technical College’s assigned student email account. This notification contained the grant amount to be disbursed to the student, information identifying the disbursed money as CARES grant funds, and information pertaining to potential tax implications. Resource information for counseling and other referral sources were also provided.

Additional Information on the CARES Act:

UPDATE: ALL CARES FUNDS HAVE BEEN DISBURSED. NO FURTHER APPLICATIONS OR REQUESTS ARE BEING ACCEPTED.

The federal government recently passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. A portion of this legislation is to support college and university students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn.

The CARES Act provides money to cover student expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to COVID-19. Eligible expenses include those considered as the student’s cost of attendance, such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and childcare.

The CARES Act does exclude the following students from receiving awards:

• PSEO students (Online College in the High School, concurrent enrollment, regular PSEO)
• Exclusively online students
• Incarcerated students
• Students paying the senior citizen rate/noncredit courses
• Farm Business Management students
• Visiting and Non-Degree Seeking Students
• Non-Title IV Eligible Students (Dream Act, International, etc.)
• Students in credit based Customized Training Courses

The list of eligible students is based on those enrolled as of March 6, 2020. Eligible students will receive a base award of $275. Pell Eligible students as determined by the 2019-2020 FAFSA will receive a base award and additional funding based on their enrollment level. Money will be transferred to direct deposit bank accounts on file. If students do not have a direct deposit bank account set up, a check will be mailed to the address listed in eServices.

CARES Special Circumstances Grant:

Additional CARES grant funds are available for students who have incurred extra cost of attendance expenses due to the spring 2020 COVID-19 campus disruption. To apply for additional emergency grant funds, an application has been specifically designed to address special circumstances related to the COVID-19 campus closure. Students who have had to return to campus to complete Spring 2020 courses after the last day of the term (May 14th ) may qualify for additional funds. Students must meet eligibility requirements outlined by the CARES Act to qualify.

If you would like an application or have questions about the CARES Special Circumstances Grant, please contact Lisa Bottem at lisa.bottem@northlandcollege.edu or 218-683-8544.