Students & Education Aid

Students & Education Aid Under the cares act

On Jan. 20, 2021, COVID-19 Emergency Relief measures were extended on ED- owned Federal Student Loans through at least Sept. 30, 2021. For additional information, please click here  

Student Loans

  1. The CARES Act provides student loan borrowers with six months of temporary relief from their student loan payments. The federal student loans must be owned by the U.S. Department of Education and only certain federal student loans are eligible. 

    1. Eligible Federal Loans 
      1. Loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loans)
      2. Loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) in 2008-09 and 2009-10 that were transferred to the U.S. Department of Education under the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 (ECASLA)
      3. Defaulted FFELP loans that were transferred to the U.S. Department of Education through a guarantee agency
    2. Not Eligible Loans
      1. Federal Perkins Loans and FFELP loans held by a bank, state lender or other financial institution are not eligible. Private student loans are also not eligible, but many private lenders are offering options to pause payments.
    1. How to Pause Your Student Loan Payments
      1. Borrowers of eligible federal student loans do not need to do anything to have their federal student loan payments suspended. The payments pause and interest waiver will be automatic.
      2. Borrowers may choose to continue making payments to reduce the principal balance of their loans. Borrowers who can afford to continue making payments should consider doing so.

     

Campus-Based Aid

    1. The CARES Act waives the requirement that colleges and universities pay a matching share of Federal Work-Study (FWS) program wages and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
    2. The CARES Act allows colleges and universities to transfer leftover Federal Work-Study funding into the FSEOG program, so that the money may be awarded to students as grants.
    3. The CARES Act allows colleges and universities to use FSEOG funding for emergency financial aid. The emergency financial aid funds may be used to help undergraduate and graduate students with unexpected expenses and unmet financial need due to the coronavirus pandemic. The amount of emergency aid per student is capped at the amount of the maximum Federal Pell Grant for the applicable award year. Colleges and universities may use a scholarship-granting organization to process applications for emergency aid. The receipt of emergency aid will not reduce the student’s eligibility for need-based financial aid.
    4. The CARES Act allows colleges and universities to continue paying Federal Work-Study students for up to one year if the student’s employer or the college or university’s campus closes due to the coronavirus pandemic. The amount of the payment is based on the student’s scheduled Federal Work-Study hours, as opposed to the average hours worked previously. The money may be disbursed either as a one-time grant or in multiple disbursements. The U.S. Department of Education can waive the institutional matching requirements for Federal Work-Study wages paid under this provision.

     

Financial Aid Time Limits

  1. The CARES Act excludes subsidized Federal Direct Stafford loans from the subsidized loan usage limits (SULA), if the student was not able to complete the academic term for which the loan was obtained.
  2. The CARES Act excludes Federal Pell Grants from the duration limits, if the student was not able to complete the academic term for which the grant was obtained.

 

Treatment of Withdrawals

  1. The CARES Act waives the requirement for return of Title IV federal student aid if the student withdraws as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
  2. The CARES Act cancels federal student loans that are associated with a payment period for which the student withdraws due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

The CARES Act allows colleges and universities to exclude from the minimum 2.0 GPA requirement for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) any attempted credits that were incomplete due to the coronavirus pandemic. An appeal by the student is not required.

K-12 Schools 

The CARES Act provides more than $30 billion in emergency education funding for K-12 districts and higher education institutions.  The funds will be distributed to local educational agencies to use for coronavirus-response activities, like remote learning technology, planning, and coordination.


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