Southwestern Community College (SWCC) has signed and returned the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act certification and agreement form and intends to use the funds to provide the mandated amount of at least 50 percent of the emergency financial aid grants to students.
SWCC has $293,694 available for the HEERF student portion.
As of November 10, 2020, $292,965 of emergency financial aid grants have been awarded and disbursed.
We estimate that 607 students at the institution are eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and are therefore eligible to receive an emergency financial aid grant.
As of November 10, 2020, emergency financial aid grants have been awarded and disbursed to 471 students.
SWCC feels that those students most impacted by the disruption of campus operations are those students enrolled in face-to-face courses on March 13, 2020, and housing students. Since SWCC already issued credit adjustments and café cash refunds to housing students, that leaves students enrolled in face-to-face courses.
- SWCC awarded $45 for each credit hour of face-to-face courses Title IV eligible students with a FAFSA on file were enrolled in on March 13, 2020.
- The remaining amount after the distribution in #1 above is available for students enrolled in Spring 2020 or Summer 2020 terms who complete the CARES Act emergency financial aid grant application. Applications will go through a reasonableness review approval process to ensure compliance with the CARES Act and awards will be distributed as they are approved. The maximum award will be $3,097 per student per term. The application will be available online soon.
Instructions, directions, and guidance was provided by the institution to students concerning the emergency financial aid grants. A letter or email was provided to students informing them of their eligibility for the CARES Act emergency financial aid grant for expenses incurred due to the disruption of campus operations. They were informed that the amount they were receiving was based on their face-to-face credit hours for the first disbursement. If students had an amount due to SWCC, an account statement was included in the envelope with the paper checks with instructions on how to pay their bill. Eligible students were also made aware of the opportunity to receive additional CARES Act grant money via an application process. The application is readily available on the SWCC website:
SWCC CARES ACT APPLICATION - Sorry, the CARES ACT APPLICATION is no longer available.