HEERF Grant Information | SCIT Southern California Institute of Technology

Last Updated 6/30/2022

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act established the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) to provide emergency financial aid grants (HEERF Grants) to eligible students impacted by the COVID-19 situation. SCIT is participating in this program to provide financial relief to eligible students who were unexpectedly transitioned to online instruction and who may have experienced other financial hardships resulting from the COVID-19 situation.

Our institution signed and return to the Department of Education the Certification and Agreement to receive funds under Section 18004(a)(1) and Section 18004(a)(2) of the CARES Act to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students and to our institution. Our institution intends to use at least 50 percent of the said funds to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students. The total amount of the said funds the institution will receive for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students is $767,701. The total number of students the institution estimates will participate in this program is around 500 students after all the said funds have been distributed. Below is a list of the Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reports for the said grants.

The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA) authorizes additional emergency financial aid grants to be added to the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II). Our institution in participating in the following program within HEERF II: Proprietary Institutions Grant Funds for Students (a)(4) (CFDA 84.425Q). In this program, our institution is allocated an additional $748,113 to be distributed to students in the form of emergency financial aid grants. The total number of students our institution estimates will participate in this program is around 500 students after all the allocated HEERF II funds have been distributed.

How HEERF Grants will be Distributed

HEERF Grants will be allocated and distributed to students in multiple rounds throughout the year. Rounds have set start and end dates. All current students during the start and end dates of any given round are encouraged to apply to receive HEERF Grants. Each round lasts about 2 months and do not overlap one another. In addition to the HEERF Grant distributions in rounds, an allocation of HEERF Grants will be distributed directly to select students if there is a unique technology need (“Technology Need Distribution”) for an enrolled course that may require additional expenditure by the student to successfully complete the course. Only students who apply and meet the following eligibility criteria are eligible to receive HEERF Grants. The eligibility criteria to receive HEERF Grants are:

You must be considered an enrolled student at SCIT as of the date you submit your application and must have begun your program of study within or before the respective rounds date range.
You must be enrolled in a program.
You must be eligible to participate in federal student financial aid programs. Please note, you are not required to receive any federal student financial aid, you simply need to be eligible to participate.
Students who have been withdrawn from the school are not eligible to apply after their withdrawal.
Students on an approved leave of absence may apply for an HEERF Grant during the start and end dates of their leave so as long as they have not withdrawn from the school.
Students who apply during the time they considered not in attendance (i.e. those who did not attend during the first week of courses or who did not complete any of their courses by receiving an “incomplete” grade in all of them) must submit an appeal and be approved to continue their studies in order to be eligible to apply for an HEERF Grant.

Students may apply in multiple rounds. If a student applies during a round and meets the eligibility criteria above, then there are up to two types of HEERF Grant distributions that s/he may qualify to receive during the round. The two types of HEERF Grant distributions during rounds are as follows: (1) One-time Distribution, and (2) Hardship Distribution.

Each type of distribution is described below. While students may apply for HEERF Grants in multiple rounds and receive multiple distributions, in no circumstance may a student receive more than $6195 in total HEERF Grant distributions throughout the time of this program. Students who are eligible and qualify to receive an HEERF Grant will receive the grant in the form of a check (or multiple checks) that are mailed to the student’s address on record directly.

One-time Distribution

One-time distributions are HEERF Grants that are awarded to eligible students who attempt any course during the start and end dates of the applied round and who have not received a one-time distribution in previous rounds. The total amount of one-time distributions is $500.

Hardship Distribution

Hardship distributions are HEERF Grants that are awarded to eligible students of the applied round where the amount of the HEERF Grant awarded is calculated following a point-based system. The Financial Aid Office determines the total amount of HEERF Grant funds to be allocated for hardship distributions for any given round and after all applications are received, the total amount of points are determined for all applications and HEERF Grants are then distributed to each students proportionate to the points allotted in their application. The total amount of hardship distributions vary depending on the total amount of HEERF Grant funds the Financial Aid Office allocates to each round and how many points are determined based on all the applications received.

Technology Need Distribution

Technology need distributions are select HEERF Grant distribution awarded to eligible students who enroll in select courses that may require unique technology expenditures by students to successfully complete the course. The total amount of technology need distributions is dependent on the necessary technology expenditure for select courses, which will be determined by the school and announced to all students enrolled in the select courses to apply and receive. Students in such courses will be contacted directly by the school when necessary to verify their eligibility to receive HEERF Grants for the technology need.

How to Apply

Students must apply via an online application in order to be considered for receiving an HEERF grant for rounds. The link to the online application is posted on the Coronavirus webpage and is also accessible below under “Current Round” for any round that is active. Students are notified when a round opens by email to their school email accounts and announcements on the Coronavirus webpage. Please note, the application is only accessible when logged in with your school email account (i.e. your @student.scitech.edu email address).

Students enrolled in courses that the school has determined is eligible for a technology need distribution will be notified by the school on how to apply and receive a technology need distribution for their select course.

If you have any questions about the application process or about HEERF Grants in general, please contact the Financial Aid Office by emailing financialaid@scitech.edu.

Current Round

The latest round closed on February 28, 2022. The HEERF Grants awarded to SCIT have been fully disbursed and there are no further rounds scheduled. The school will notify students should any future grants become available.

HEERF Grant Distribution Statistics

The total students who have applied and received HEERF Grants as of the date this site was last updated is 785 students. The total HEERF Grants awarded as of the date this site was last updated is $1,515,816. Statistics for previous completed rounds are listed below.