The application for federal relief funds for Mississippi University for Women students had 112 takers within a couple hours of opening on Thursday, MUW President Nora Miller said.
Rosalind Monroe was one of them. She is an elementary education major planning to graduate next May, and she’s hoping to receive money that the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) provided MUW to cover students’ costs resulting from the campus closing down due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Monroe said she knows how she will use the money if she gets it — she might need to buy a new computer to replace her malfunctioning one, and she found it difficult to complete some of her coursework when she got sick after campus closed.
“I went to the doctor once, and then I had to doctor myself back to health the second time because I really couldn’t afford another doctor bill,” Monroe said.
The CARES Act, passed by Congress in March, is a $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package that provides funding for large cities, large and small businesses, as well as improved unemployment benefits. It allots more than $14 billion for higher education institutions to cover both the institutions’ and the students’ costs due to campuses closing and classes becoming online-only.
“It’s wonderful because so many of our students are out of jobs with restaurants closing, and the campus closing (meant) institutional work-study students lost their jobs,” Miller said. “People’s parents are under stress, and I think everyone’s taken a financial hit. This will relieve a lot of stress on our students.”
Mississippi State University received $8.9 million, MUW received $1,094,031 and East Mississippi Community College received $1.7 million to distribute to students. Each school also will receive the same amounts to cover their own expenses.
Eligibility requirements
Students must apply for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to be considered for CARES funding.
MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter estimates about 75 percent of MSU students, or about 17,500, had already filled out FAFSA and the remaining 4,500 students had not before the CARES application opened. Miller said MUW has about 1,200 students who have filled out FAFSA and about 500 who have not.
EMCC students had until the end of the day Monday to complete the application and FAFSA, and eligible students will receive their money May 19. More than 800 students had applied as of Monday morning, EMCC President Scott Alsobrooks said.
Eligible students need to explain in their applications that they incurred costs for food, course materials, technology, health care or child care “related to the disruption of campus operations related to COVID-19.”
MUW will distribute $600 to students who were enrolled in nine credit hours or more before campus closed and $400 to those who were enrolled in less than nine credit hours. Students who were taking exclusively online courses before March 13 are not eligible for CARES money, Miller said.
“We’ll see how many students apply and are eligible, and we’ll see what’s left after that,” she said. “We expect that there will probably be $300,000 or more left, and then we will take another look at the students who have encountered multiple areas of expense. (We) may ask for documentation on some of that and do a second round of funding once the first round is complete.”
MSU’s Office of Financial Aid has been “burning the midnight oil” to get CARES money to students quickly, and the amount per student depends on the expenses they can verify during the application process, Salter said.
Jesse Tutor graduated from MSU on May 1 with a computer engineering degree, and he is still looking for a post-grad job. He said he received $500 in CARES money on Wednesday.
“Not a lot of companies are hiring right now, so for me, this helps me get groceries and cover bills and that sort of thing, (to) keep me afloat until this all blows over,” Tutor said.
All three schools have other ways to help students financially affected by the pandemic. EMCC received a $20,000 grant through the Mississippi Community College Foundation from the Woodward Hines Education Foundation to help qualifying students impacted by COVID-19 stay on track toward graduation.
Students can use the grant money for “in-home internet access, fuel cards, credential fee stipends, to establish campus tablet or computer loan programs, or other costs that may be a barrier to college completion,” Alsobrooks said.
MSU and MUW also have emergency relief funds for students, fueled by donations. MSU’s student relief fund was set up after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and there is no limit on how much a student can receive.
MUW’s Foundation Student Emergency Fund provided $29,102.92 to 79 students as of Thursday. The fund had an initial cap of $250 per student but started allowing students to receive more money at the end of the semester, Miller said.
Monroe said she was not aware of MUW’s relief fund and had heard about the CARES Act funding through a friend.
“I hope I do get something,” she said. “Why do there have to be all these stipulations with it? Just give it to us. I know we need it.”
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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