Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Report
October 8, 2021
CARES Act Lancaster Theological Seminary Report
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, CARES Act, was passed by Congress on March 27th, 2020. This bill allotted $2.2 trillion to provide fast and direct economic aid to the American people negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of that money, approximately $14 billion was given to the Office of Postsecondary Education as the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or HEERF.
The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund II (HEERF II) was authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA), Public Law 116-260, signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020. In total, the CRRSAA authorizes $81.88 billion in support for education, in addition to the $30.75 billion expeditiously provided last spring through the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Public Law 116-136.
The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III (HEERF III) was authorized by the American Rescue Plan (ARP), Public Law 117-2, signed into law on March 11, 2021, providing $39.6 billion in support to institutions of higher education to serve students and ensure learning continues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ARP funds are in addition to funds authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA), Public Law 116-260 and the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Public Law 116-136. Emergency funds available to institutions and their students under all emergency funds total $76.2 billion.
Section 18004(a)(3) of the CARES Act authorized the Secretary to allocate funds for part B of Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965, through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to institutions that the Secretary determined had the greatest unmet needs related to Coronavirus. Priority was given to the institutions that received less than $500,000 in HEERF I and HEERF II. Each institution was eligible to receive funds through FIPSE by distributing funds in an amount that, when added to funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) and Section 18004(a)(2), was equal to $500,000.
Lancaster Theological Seminary received the following:
- HEERF I Student Portion – $9,602
- HEERF II Student Portion – $9,602
- HEERF III Student Portion – $31,677
- FIPSE – $480,796
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