CARES Act Reporting

CARES ACT INSTITUTIONAL QUARTERLY REPORTS

CARES Act Reporting Requirements

  1. An acknowledgment that the institution signed and returned to the Department the Certification and Agreement and the assurance that the institution has used, or intends to use, no less than 50 percent of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students.
  2. The total amount of funds that the institution will receive or has received from the Department pursuant to the institution's Certification and Agreement [for] Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.
  3. The total amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act as of the date of submission (i.e., as of the 30-day Report and every 45 days thereafter).
  4. The estimated total number of students at the institution 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.
  5. The total number of students who have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
  6. 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.
  7. Any instructions, directions, or guidance provided by the institution to students concerning the Emergency Financial Aid Grants.


CARES Act: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Reporting

  1. The University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) has signed and returned the Department of Education’s Certification and Agreement, and 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.
  2. The total amount of funds that UAM has received from the Department pursuant to the institution's Certification and Agreement [for] Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students is $1,611,657.
  3. As of May 31, 2020, the total amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act as of the date of submission (i.e., as of the 30-day Report and every 45 days thereafter) is $1,320,550.
  4. As of May 14, the estimated total number of UAM students 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 1,734.
  5. The total number of students who have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is 1,734.
  6. The method(s) used by UAM to determine which students receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants and how much they would receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is as follows: The University of Arkansas at Monticello has decided to heavily rely on data from the 2019-2020 FAFSA to distribute the first round of emergency aid to students. Although the FAFSA may not be indicative of a student’s current financial situation, the depth of information included on the application provides the most accurate reflection of UAM’s neediest populations. Following the Secretary’s encouragement, we have decided to use the Federal Pell Grant as justification towards our approach for a number of reasons:

    A. Undergraduate students only are eligible to receive the Federal Pell Grant. UAM’s Graduate courses are primarily offered online, and Graduate Students are eligible for a much higher amount in Federal financial aid, thus we have chosen to exclude this population in CARES awarding.

    B. UAM’s CARES allocation is based on enrollment data from IPEDS for the Fall 2018 semester (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). Since Pell funds are available to undergraduate students only, Pell data on IPEDS is based solely on undergraduate students.

    C. The Pell Grant is administered in tiers based on EFC and enrollment level. Mirroring this in CARES awarding ensures consistency and fairness to our neediest students.

    To accommodate for UAM’s recognition that FAFSA data may not be exactly indicative of a student’s current financial situation, we have decided to add a tier on to our CARES award schedule for undergraduate students that have an EFC too high to receive Pell funds, as well as undergraduate students that have not completed a FAFSA. Adding this tier will allow us to distribute funds to all of the students that have been affected, without requiring an application that would delay the distribution of funds, since our goal is to help as many affected students as soon as possible.

    UAM will also be reserving 20% of our CARES Financial Aid allocation to help our affected students that are enrolling in Summer courses.

  7. Instructions, directions, or guidance provided by UAM to students concerning the Emergency Financial Aid Grants include the following:

    4/30/20: The Financial Aid Website was revised to include the following:
    The Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was implemented to assist students in covering expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus. The University of Arkansas at Monticello has submitted a request for this funding, and additional information regarding the distribution of these funds to students will be sent from the Financial Aid Office in the coming weeks. Please continue to check WeevilNet, and to monitor your UAM student email account regularly for important updates regarding CARES funding. We understand the challenges and concerns that our students are facing during these unprecedented times, and we thank you for your patience. Your success is our goal.

    5/12/20: The Financial Aid Office Website was revised to include the information below:
    The Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was implemented to assist students in covering expenses related to the disruption of campus operations and delivery of instruction due to coronavirus. The University of Arkansas at Monticello’s request to receive aid has been granted, and we will begin distributing these funds to our students in the form of a financial aid CARES Grant through WeevilNet in the coming weeks.

    Who is eligible for a financial aid CARES Grant?
    All undergraduate UAM students who were enrolled in Spring 2020 face-to-face courses or a combination of face-to-face and online courses prior to March 12, 2020 (the day UAM converted all face-to-face courses to an online format) are eligible. The CARES Act does not allow funds to be distributed to students enrolled in all on-line courses prior to March 12. Graduate students will not receive CARES Grant awards.
    Note: Students whose courses were originally face-to-face, but were converted to on-line instruction due to COVID-19 will receive a financial aid CARES Grant award.

    How much will eligible students receive?
    UAM prioritized students using a combination of information from FAFSA and the number of credits that students were enrolled in prior to March 12, when face-to-face courses were converted to on-line instruction.

    How will funds be distributed to students?
    • The financial aid CARES Grant awards will be distributed by the UAM Financial Aid Office and posted to students’ accounts through WeevilNet.
    • CARES Grant awards will be processed by direct deposit or mailed to the student’s address in WeevilNet based on your default method of receiving funds.
    • Funds will be processed directly to students, regardless of any balance owed to the University.

    We strongly urge students to enroll in direct deposit to receive funds as quickly as possible. For information setting up direct deposit, please visit Direct Deposit through Nelnet. You may also contact the UAM Cashier’s Office at cashier@uamont.edu, or by phone at 870.460.104.

    5/12/20: The information added to the Financial Aid Office website (above) was emailed to the UAM student body as a whole with the Subject “CARES Act Financial Aid Grant.”

    5/20/20: The following information was emailed to the UAM student body as a whole with the
    Subject “Summer 2020 CARES Grant Funds”:
    What is the CARES Act?
    The Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was implemented to assist students in covering expenses related to the disruption of campus operations and delivery of instruction due to coronavirus. The University of Arkansas at Monticello’s request to receive aid has been granted, and we will begin distributing these funds to our students in the form of a financial aid CARES Grant through WeevilNet.

    Who is eligible for a Summer financial aid CARES Grant?
    All undergraduate UAM students who enroll in UAM courses during SUMMER 2020 and attend/participate in those courses through the respective census date. (5 Class days after the Summer course begins)
    *Graduate students will not receive CARES Grant awards.

    How much will eligible students receive?
    UAM will prioritize students using a combination of information from FAFSA and the number of credits that students are enrolled in for SUMMER 2020.
    ALL Summer CARES Funds will be distributed after the Summer II census date (July 9, 2020) regardless of the summer term in which the student is enrolled.

    How will funds be distributed to students?
    • The financial aid CARES Grant awards will be distributed by the UAM Financial Aid Office and posted to students’ accounts through WeevilNet.
    • CARES Grant awards will be processed by direct deposit or mailed to the student’s address in WeevilNet based on your default method of receiving funds.
    • Funds will be processed directly to students, regardless of any balance owed to the University.
    • Students enrolled in multiple SUMMER terms/sessions will receive a prorated amount of CARES funds proportionate to the hours they are enrolled and attending/participating in through census, for the current term/session.

    We strongly urge students to enroll in direct deposit to receive funds as quickly as possible. For information setting up direct deposit, please visit Direct Deposit through Nelnet. You may also contact the UAM Cashier’s Office at cashier@uamont.edu, or by phone at (870) 460-1043.

    For questions regarding CARES, please contact the Financial Aid Office by email at finaid@uamont.edu or by phone at 870.460.1050.

    5/27/2020: CARES Act Reporting Requirements added to the UAM Website. 

  8. As of July 29, 2020, the total amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is $1,611,657.

  9.  As of July 29, 2020, the estimated total number of UAM students 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 1,943.

  10. The total number of students who have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is 1,943.

  11. The method(s) used by UAM to determine which students receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants and how much they would receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act for Summer 2020 was identical to those used for Spring 2020 as listed in earlier reporting. 

    As of July 29, 2020, all of the funds received by UAM under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act have been distributed to students.