New York Tech Distributes COVID-19 Relief Aid to Students

Thousands of New York Tech students discovered a welcome deposit in their bank accounts last month, as New York Tech distributed more than $2.2 million in student aid as part of the most recent round of funding delivered by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Emergency Services (CARES) Act and Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 (CRRSAA) programs.

First Round of CARES Funding in 2020

Signed into law on March 27, 2020, the CARES Act was a $2.3 trillion economic stimulus package designed to provide fast and direct economic assistance to Americans adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill also directed $30.75 billion to colleges and universities through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or HEERF.

New York Tech received its first CARES grant on April 23, 2020, which included $2,188,605 for student aid. The school quickly distributed $2,194,909 to 4,507 eligible students, with the university making up the differential between the grant and the distribution. All full-time students who had filed verified FAFSA applications and were enrolled for the spring 2020 semester in programs that were not entirely online were eligible for this grant. In accordance with the CARES Act regulations, funds were designated for use by students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to COVID-19, including food, housing, course materials, technology, healthcare, and child care.

New York Tech was also awarded $2,188,605 for institutional spending, which was used to cover the additional cost of emergency grants for students, reimbursements for room and board, and the set-up of the Course Builder solution for online access to courses for the fall 2020 semester. The university later received another $17,903 as a result of its designation as a “minority-serving institution.” Although it had the option of using the money to defray expenses, the school chose to distribute the money as a grant to 68 students on March 29, 2021. Students were required to submit a separate application to determine eligibility for this supplemental grant.

Quick Distribution of CRRSAA Funds to Students in 2021

When the smaller $900 billion CRRSAA bill was signed into law in late December, it included $81.88 billion for a second Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II). The university received another $2,188,605 for student aid, which resulted in an additional distribution of $2,189,877 to eligible 4,451 students on March 30. This time, all full-time students who had filed verified FAFSA applications and were enrolled for the spring 2021 semester, including programs that were entirely online, were eligible, with financial priority going to the school’s 1,081 Pell Grant recipients. New York Tech also received $4,667,076 in institutional aid, as well as another $25,229 as a minority-serving institution. The distribution of these funds is still being determined.

In total, the university has received $11,276,023 in federal coronavirus relief grants for student aid and institutional support from these two programs in the past year.

For more information about the CARES and CRRSAA packages, see our CARES Act Fund Disclosure and Reporting page.