Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF III)

HEERF III: HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND: POLICIES

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Funds Usage:  Any component of the student’s cost of attendance or for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care) or child care.   

Who Qualifies: Students who meet the following criteria:

  • Students who were in attendance during the period of the national emergency beginning on March 13, 2020
  • Colleges are required to prioritize students with exceptional need 


Funds Distribution:  Students may choose to have the funds applied directly to their student account or receive a check.

Benefits of Applying HEERF III funds to your student Account:

  • Tax Benefits: Students who chose to have the funds applied directly to their student account may be able to use the payment to qualify for Education Benefits when the 2022 federal taxes are filed. The funds will be considered as payment for the 2022 1098-T tax forms and families may qualify to apply for the Lifetime Learning Credit or the American Opportunity Credit.
  • Student Accounts Holds (Spring 2022 semester only): If you choose to apply the HEERF III funds to your account:
    • Full-time (standard rate or professional rate) undergraduate students: Hold threshold will be increased from $2,500 to $5,000
    • Part-time undergraduate/nonstandard programs students: Hold threshold will be increased from $1,000 to $2,000
    • Graduate/Doctoral students: Hold threshold will be increased from $1,000 to $2.000
    • Note: The hold threshold is raised for one semester only (the semester associated with when the form is submitted and processed)

Contact Information:

Webpage: www.aic.edu/caresact

Questions?  cares.act@aic.edu

IT Assistance: AIC Help Desk

HEERF III: APPEALS

Form Opens: Monday, March 28, 2022

Form Closes: When funds are exhausted

Eligibility: All students (undergraduate, graduate and doctoral) who meet the HEERF III eligibility requirements may file an appeal. Appeals may be filed in addition to the Pre-Authorized funds.

Funding Criteria: Appeal decisions will be based on need criteria which include HEERF II eligibility, FAFSA based need and eligibility, current cost of attendance balances, and personal situations. 

  • Eligibility to receive federal funds is determined by the receipt of a completed FAFSA. A completed a 2021-2022 FAFSA is not required but does assist with determining need. You can file a FAFSA at www.studentaid.gov. 
  • Colleges are required to prioritize funding for students with exceptional need.
  • Therefore, we may delay decisions on appeals on accounts with low need.
  • Please understand that AIC needs to prioritize the limited funding according to the HEERF III regulations and we may not be able to approve all appeals.

 

Appeal Timeline:

Appeals will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The CARES Act Committee will try to respond within 3-weeks of submitting an appeal. Please note that appeal submissions will not result in an immediate outcome as the CARES Act Committee needs to review each appeal individually.

Forms:

Please make sure that you LOGIN prior to choosing the form.

There are two appeal forms listed below. Each appeal form can only be submitted once.

Form: Appeal Form: Student Account Balance

 

Form: Appeal Form: Personal Costs/Account Balance/Other

  • Submit this form if you have personal costs and/or various student account balance costs. You may choose to have the funds applied to your student account or to receive a check for each category in the appeal. You will need to submit a personal statement and applicable documentation. Please make sure that you have your documentation available  in a format that you can upload. Only 2 documents can be uploaded so please combine your documents together into one unloadable document, if needed.
  • HEERF III: Appeal Form: Personal Costs

HEERF III: PRE-AUTHORIZED FUNDS

Form Opens: Monday, March 28, 2022

Form Closes: Friday, April 29, 2022

Eligibility: Do NOT complete this form if you did not receive the email stating that you were approved for the Pre-Authorized Funds. Only pre-selected students are eligible for this funding. 

Funding Criteria: AIC prioritized undergraduate students with the greatest financial need by reviewing HEERF III eligibility, FAFSA EFC (Expected Family Contribution, and students with current account balances over $500 who exhausted all their financial aid options. We also reviewed graduate level students (Masters/Doctoral) and awarded some funding based on the EFC. AIC is providing a larger amount of funding to students with the most need. Refer to www.aic.edu/caresact for the awarding models.

Unclaimed Funds: Funds not claimed by form closing date will be forfeited. The unclaimed funds will be utilized for HEERF appeals. If you missed the deadline to file the form then you may file an appeal form to request the funding (subject to availability).

Please make sure that you LOGIN prior to choosing the form.

Form: HEERF III: Pre-Authorized Funds Form