At a glance
Alfred State College (ASC) students may now apply to receive a portion of the financial assistance made available to the school through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability (CARES) Act.
Alfred State College (ASC) students may now apply to receive a portion of the financial assistance made available to the school through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability (CARES) Act.
Under this act, the federal government established the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), which will allow Alfred State to provide emergency grants to students with expenses resulting from the disruption of campus operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The college has determined that 2,751 of its students are potentially eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants under the CARES Act.
Julie Rose, senior director of Student Records and Financial Services, said, “I am thrilled our students can now apply for emergency grant funding. It is my hope that these funds help to alleviate the financial hardship that so many of our students are experiencing due to the unexpected disruption this spring.”
To be eligible for this type of aid, students must have been enrolled in credit-bearing courses for the spring 2020 semester, filed a 2019-2020 Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA), been deemed eligible for Title IV aid, and cannot have been enrolled in a fully online program prior to March 13, 2020.
Alfred State will use the funds to meet the emergency needs of students who have been impacted by COVID-19 with consideration of the following priorities:
• Priority 1 – High-need students with an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) below the annual Pell threshold.
• Priority 2 – All other students meeting the eligibility guidelines.
ASC plans to award CARES Emergency Grants according to two methods. The first method awards a Base Grant to all eligible students with allowable expenses up to or less than the Base Grant award, with a higher award amount for those who are Priority 1 students. The maximum Base Grant amounts are $1,000 for Priority 1 students and $300 for Priority 2 students.
The second method allows eligible students to apply for an Enhanced Grant for expenses already incurred, or anticipated to incur, that are in excess of the Base Grant amount. The maximum amount of the aggregate sum of the Base and Enhanced Grant for any student is $6,195.
Eligible students are encouraged to log into Banner through my.AlfredState.edu and complete the application for funds before the July 31 deadline.
In addition to providing aid through the CARES Act, Alfred State is also collecting donations to assist students through its Support Our Students (SOS) Emergency Fund, which has a goal of $50,000. Once that goal is met, SUNY will match the donations to bring the total to $100,000. More information regarding that assistance will be announced.
For more information on CARES relief, visit www.AlfredState.edu/CARES-Act. Those with questions related to the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund should contact the Student Records and Financial Services Office at 1-800-4-ALFRED, 607-587-4253, or sfs@alfredstate.edu.
