Federal Funds will Help Provide Grants to UCM Students Affected by COVID-19

WARRENSBURG, MO – To assist students who have been financially impacted by COVID-19, the University of Central Missouri is receiving approximately $3.5 million in the second round of Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF II made possible through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021).

 

Federal HEERF II dollars, along with a portion of remaining funds provided through HEERF I during the 2020 academic year, will provide a total of $4.1 million to serve more than 7,000 UCM students who were identified as eligible. These individuals were selected in accordance with a formula that determined UCM students with the highest need. This applies to both graduate students who have at least four credit hours and undergraduate students with a minimum of six hours. There is no application process, and students who will receive funds have already been contacted through their campus email accounts.

 

Aid amounts vary according to the number of credit hours in which a student is enrolled, but range from $150 to $1,200.  Students who are enrolled in online classes and in-person classes are included among those who are eligible. Student grants made possible by HEERF II are expected to be issued by direct deposit, for those enrolled, or by mailed checks by the end of March, and can be used to pay down a student’s outstanding account balances at UCM as well as to defer costs incurred as a result of COVID-19.

 

Under HEERF I, more than $2.8 million in emergency grants were issued to nearly 6,800 UCM students. These grants assisted students with expenses they incurred “in direct relation to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus.”