Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund

Information

HEERF/CARES Reporting Data

Southern Oregon University acknowledges that we have signed and returned to the DOE the Funding Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial AId Grants to Students on April 13th, 2020 and we assure that the institution intends to use no less than 50% of the funds received under section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide emergency financial aid grants to students.

The total amount of funds Southern Oregon University received was $1,711,040 from the DOE pursuant to the institution’s Funding Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

In addition to CARES funding is HEERF III or ARP (American Relief Package) Southern Oregon University was granted 5.4 million dollars for Student Financial Aid. As of 10/14/21 the ARP funding has arrived and we have started disbursing these funds for the 2021-22 AY. Southern Oregon University has finished disbursing all of the ARP/CARES funding Winter term of 2022.

The total amount of emergency financial aid grants pending distribution to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act as of 03/10/22 pending students disbursement is $0.00.

The estimated total number of students at Southern Oregon University eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 of Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive emergency financial aid grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is 14,280.

The total number of students who have received an emergency financial aid grant to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act – Currently in process of disbursing these funds to eligible students Distributed, 6,246 students.

The total number of students who have withdrawn from Southern Oregon University after receiving Federal CARES Money as of 03/10/22: 339.

The method(s) used by the institution to determine which students receive emergency financial aid grants and how much they would receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act are listed below:

Southern Oregon University utilized an application to identify those that were in need of assistance for funding due to COVID-19. The form responses were reviewed by the Office of Financial Aid to determine which students met the criteria outlined in the HEERF/CARES act. Southern Oregon University identified those students who had the most need determined by the FAFSA form first and then prioritized from there. Each student was reviewed in depth by a case by case basis and all eligibility requirements were checked and verified for accuracy. Southern Oregon University utilized a tiered awarding system based on the answers provided by the students on the CARES form.

For the disbursement of HEERF III funds or ARP (American Relief Package), SOU utilized reports to identify those who showed the highest need per the FAFSA and those that were in PELL range. We also looked at those within PELL range and those that have a high balance with SOU. We increased the EFC to the top and included international students as well as DACA.

Southern Oregon University provided the following link to students via email to their student account, as well as creating a COVID-19 CARES Emergency Grant Assistance FAQ page where students could find answers to all their questions concerning eligibility and timing of the funds.