CARES Act Emergency Fund

Update as of April 7, 2022 

HEERF III is authorized by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and was signed into law on March 11, 2021. It provides $39.6 billion in support to institutions of higher education to serve students and ensure learning continues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) released guidance related to HEERF III emergency grant funding to higher education institutions to assist students with 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. 

Nashville State will distribute funding in three ways. The amount distributed to each student will be based on a formula developed by the Tennessee Board of Regents staff and how many students request funding. The first allocation will be made for students enrolled in the Fall 2021 that qualify and a second allocation will be made for students enrolled in Spring 2022 that qualify. Lastly, the Nashville State has held 7% of the student allocation funding to provide emergency funds to students with exceptional needs. Nashville State determines the amount of the emergency funds payment.

Who is eligible? 

Students who have been enrolled at Nashville State at any time during the coronavirus pandemic. 

• This does include students from Spring 2020 (only those that were enrolled and attending hours as of March 13, 2020, or later), Summer 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Summer 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022. 
• For those students enrolled in Fall 2021 with no previous enrollment in one of the qualifying terms (Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021), eligibility will be determined based on meeting Fall registration requirements. A survey was found on your myNSCC page remained open until September 16, 2021. Funds were issued September 30, 2021, to 1,908 students for a total of $4,386,471.00. Funds were issued on November 5, 2021, to 140 students for a total of $241,718.43. 
• For Fall 2021, Nashville State issued Emergency Grants to 617 students for a total of $617,000. Nashville State issued additional Emergency Grants to 193 students for a total of $193,000. 
• For those students enrolled in Spring 2022 with no previous enrollment in one of the qualifying terms (Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Summer 2021, and Fall 2021), eligibility will be determined based on meeting Spring registration requirements. Funds were issued February 17, 2022, to 1,463 students for a total of $3,897,782.42. 
• Total amount distributed by Institution is $9,332,917.00.

How do students apply for these emergency funds? 

Students must complete and submit the HEERF III Emergency Grant Funding Request on your myNSCC page. 

How will I receive the money? 

Funds are released by refund check (sent by mail using USPS) or direct deposit, depending on the method the individual student has set up with the college. It is important that students confirm their correct address and direct deposit information are on file; this can be done using the student account. Direct deposit refunds may be received by the student more quickly.

If you have any questions, please direct all questions to CARES@nscc.edu.

Update as of March 12, 2021 

The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) II provides emergency funding to colleges to assist students in need during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, this funding was known as the CARES Act Funding.

CRRSAA funds are a grant from the Federal Government to cover costs incurred December 27, 2020, and after to ensure learning continues for students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nashville State has received $2,344,678 HEERF II funding and has established the HEERF II CRRSAA Emergency Relief Fund to distribute grants ranging from $400 to $600 to eligible students to help cover expenses related to the cost of attendance (i.e., food, housing, and utilities, health insurance including mental health care, transportation, or child care) or for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus.

Funds from the HEERF II CRRSAA Emergency Relief Fund are not considered financial aid and do not affect a student's current or future financial aid eligibility. Per guidance from the federal government, these grants will be distributed to our students with exceptional needs. On March 12, 2021, 4,308 HEERF II CRRSAA Emergency Relief Grants were distributed by check and mailed to the student’s address on file. Students are advised to keep a close eye on their school emails for notifications regarding the grant. They can also check their myNSCC account for notifications.

Eligible students will meet the following requirements: 

• Student is verified as United States citizen or Permanent Resident 
• Student is an enrolled student at Nashville State as of March 10, 2021 
• Student is degree-seeking at Nashville State

Nashville State will distribute funding in two ways. Approximately 95% of the funding will be issued through automatic distribution to students with exceptional needs and 5% by application for those who do not qualify for automatic distribution. Students have the option to request additional emergency grant funding using the application form found on your MYNSCC page.

Updated as of 4/29/2021 – NSCC is no longer accepting emergency grant funding applications.

Updated as of 7/7/2021 – Nashville State issued the remaining 5% of student funds related to emergency grant funding applications on May 6, 2021. The final totals are: 

• Total number of students eligible to receive an emergency grant is 4,382. 
• Total number of students who have received an emergency grant is 4,382. 
• Total Amount Distributed by Institution is $2,344,678.00

What is CARES Act Funding? 

The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) released guidance related to CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEERF) funding to higher education institutions to assist students with unmet expenses as a result of COVID-19. Funds must be used to cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the coronavirus, such as course materials, technology, food, housing, health care, childcare, or other costs of attendance-related items. 

Furthermore, USDOE guidelines require emergency grants only be distributed to students who are eligible to participate in federal Title IV aid programs. Students exclusively enrolled in online courses prior to March 13, 2020, are not eligible. In accordance with the HEERF Certification and Agreement signed and returned to the USDOE, the institution will 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.

How will CARES Act Emergency funding be distributed? 

CARES Act Emergency funding for eligible students will be distributed in two ways: 

• The institution will distribute 90 percent of the funds to eligible students, and 
• The remaining 10 percent will be distributed as special payments to students with additional need, through an application process.

What payment methodology will be used to determine which students receive the funding? 

Our institution determined funds would be allocated to the largest number of students possible due to impacts of COVID-19 related events. Following Secretary of Education DeVos’s guidance, Pell eligible students received priority funding. However, based on our institution’s determined criteria, certain non-Pell eligible students were also considered eligible for funding. Criteria for eligibility include: 

• An individual must have been a student as of March 13, 2020 
• Students cannot have been enrolled solely in an online format as of March 13, 2020 
• Students paid must be eligible to participate in Title IV financial aid programs

Additional Emergency Grant Funding – Updated  

The institution has held 10% of the initial total allocated funding to provide special payments to Title IV eligible students in need who meet all eligibility requirements outlined by USDOE. Students have the option to request additional emergency grant funding using the application form found on your MYNSCC page. As of January 11, 2021, NSCC is no longer accepting applications. The institution determines the amount of the additional payment. 

Special payments should not exceed: 

• the amount requested by the student (must consider any spring 2020 emergency grant aid (EGA) already disbursed to a student). 
• the highest across the board spring 2020 EGA payment to a student. 

Much of the funding is automatically disbursed to eligible students, but eligibility for students who did not file FAFSAs cannot yet be verified. We anticipate USDOE will release an option for these students to self-certify eligibility. However, affected students may elect to complete a 2019-2020 FAFSA at www.fafsa.gov so eligibility can be determined. For more information regarding filing a FAFSA, click here.

How much money will I receive? 

Funds are disbursed directly to a student no matter if a current balance is owed to the institution. Nashville State allocated CARES emergency grant aid to assist the largest number of affected students possible. Our institution ensured the population receiving payments met all documented USDOE requirements and were all required to transition to online learning due to COVID-19. All payees received notification of the payment, an overview of regulations related to the funding, and a statement indicating that acceptance of funding confirmed the student had a qualifying expense. 

How will I receive the money? 

Students determined eligible for HEERF payments will receive a confirmation email from the institution. A copy of the email template may be reviewed here. Please direct all questions to CARES@nscc.edu. 

Any disbursed emergency grant funds will be released to students by either refund check or direct deposit, depending on the method the student has setup with the college. 

Please check your student account information to ensure bank account details and/or mailing address are accurate and up-to-date. 

• To verify bank account details or set up Direct Deposit, follow the instructions here. For further assistance, please contact 615-353-3310. 
• To verify your current mailing address, log in to myNSCC Self Service and click “Personal Information” and then “View Addresses and Phones.” You will be asked to verify or update your mailing address when you log in to myNSCC. For further assistance, please contact 615-353-3302. See Instructions here.

HEERF Payment Allocation Information

HEERF Public Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting

Q3 2020 
Q4 2020

Q1 2021 
Q2 2021 
Q3 2021 
Q4 2021 

Q1 2022 
Q2 2022 
Q3 2022 
Q4 2022

Q1 2023 
Q2 2023
Q3 2023
Q4 2023

The reporting frequency has been reduced from every 45 days after the initial posting to no later than 10 days after the end of each calendar quarter (September 30, December 31, March 31, June 30). The table below provides these dates.