- On June 10, 2020, Gettysburg College returned a signed the Certification and Agreement to the U.S. Department of Education assuring that no less than 50 percent of funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act would be distributed to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to eligible Gettysburg students. A new certification was not required to be submitted under the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) and Gettysburg College acknowledges it has used the applicable amount of funds designated under the ARPA to provide emergency federal aid grants to students.
- In accordance with the College’s Certification and Agreement, Gettysburg College received $2,123,686 from the U.S. Department of Education to distribute as Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students. As of March 1, 2022, the entire $2,123,686 was disbursed.
- Gettysburg College estimates that 1,913 Gettysburg students were eligible for the ARP emergency grants distributed in October 2021 and 1,822 students were eligible for the ARP emergency grants distributed in March 2022 based on the guidance available from the Department of Education as of the draw down date to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to student under Section 2003 of the ARP.
- Between August 2021 and February 2022, Gettysburg College also distributed a total of $54,290 in College Life directed Emergency Financial Aid Grants to 88 students under Section 2003 of the ARP.
- These Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students were awarded based on specific emergency grant applications submitted by students to the College Life division. Students who applied for and received College Life directed emergency grants were also eligible to submit an application survey for the October and March disbursements of Emergency Financial Aid Grants.
- ARP Institutional Portion Required Response: September 30, 2021 quarterly report (PDF).
October 1 – December 31, 2021
On October 12, 2021, Gettysburg College distributed a total of $1,000,004 in Emergency Financial Aid Grants to 787 students under Section 314(a)(1) of the CRRSAA (also used for ARP funding.
Following guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, Gettysburg College established three operational principles to determine the methodology to be used for the distribution of the student emergency financial aid grants:
Student success and support. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our students and their families.
Impact and equity. All students have experienced some type of additional costs due to COVID-19 with varied negative impacts on students depending on their socioeconomic background. In order to address the continued needs of our students, the opportunity to request ARPA student emergency grants will be limited to those students who have requested aid from the Financial Aid office either by completing the FAFSA or other required paperwork. Students should receive different levels of grant aid depending on their level of need with students with exceptional need prioritized first.
Timeliness and administrative efficiency. Ensure access for any student experiencing a loss to receive emergency grants with minimal administrative process.
Based on the three operational principles described above, the following method was used to determine recipients and funding levels:
On September 29, 2021 all currently enrolled students who had previously applied for financial aid with the College were sent an email to their official gettysburg.edu address from the Financial Aid and Student Account offices. The email included the following information:
- Notice that Gettysburg College was awarded federal funds through the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
- Financial Aid guidance related to a change in a family’s financial situation
- Notice that the funds could be used for any component of the student’s cost of attendance or for emergency costs that arose due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care) or child care.
- How to request funds through the survey application link included in the email and the deadline for requesting funds of Sunday, October 10th. The survey link asked students for their student id, name, email address and asked students to certify that they had been impacted by COVID-19 and that they would use the funds for the allowable costs described in the email.
How funds would be distributed
Students requesting funding were assigned a level based on their expected family contribution (EFC) on file with the Financial Aid office. The following levels were used:
EFC of $6,500 or less
EFC between $6,501 to $15,000
EFC between $15,001 to $25,000
EFC greater than $25,000
The grant amounts were calculated by determining a base amount for students with an EFC between $15,001 and $25,000 ($895.66) and then increasing the funding amount 50% for students with an EFC between $6,501 and $15,000 ($1,343.49) and doubling the amount for students with an EFC of $6,500 or less ($1791.32). The base amount was decreased by 50% for students with an EFC greater than $25,000 ($447.83).
On Monday, October 11 ARP student emergency grants were posted to students accounts to be either automatically disbursed on Tuesday, October 12 by direct deposit or check (under the same process used for student refunds) or to be applied to the student account balance based on the student’s direction to do so.
The Student Accounts office sent out an email to all students receiving funds on Tuesday, October 12 notifying them of the amount of their grant and that the funds would be disbursed later that day.
The College anticipates disbursing the remaining ARP student emergency grant funds of $1,119,461 by March 2022 using the same process and methodology described above.
- ARP Institutional Portion Required Response: December 31 quarterly report (PDF).
January 1 – March 31, 2022
On March 1, 2022, Gettysburg College distributed a total of $1,069,393 in Emergency Financial Aid Grants to 1,037 students under Section 314(a)(1) of the CRRSAA (also used for ARP funding).
Following guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, Gettysburg College established three operational principles to determine the methodology to be used for the distribution of the student emergency financial aid grants:
Student success and support. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our students and their families.
Impact and equity. All students have experienced some type of additional costs due to COVID-19 with varied negative impacts on students depending on their socioeconomic background. In order to address the continued needs of our students, the opportunity to request ARPA student emergency grants will be limited to those students who have requested aid from the Financial Aid office either by completing the FAFSA or other required paperwork. Students should receive different levels of grant aid depending on their level of need with students with exceptional need prioritized first.
Timeliness and administrative efficiency. Ensure access for any student experiencing a loss to receive emergency grants with minimal administrative process.
Based on the three operational principles described above, the following method was used to determine recipients and funding levels:
On February 14, 2022 all currently enrolled students who had previously applied for financial aid with the College were sent an email to their official gettysburg.edu address from the Financial Aid and Student Account offices. The email included the following information:
- Notice that Gettysburg College was awarded federal funds through the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
- Financial Aid guidance related to a change in a family’s financial situation
- Notice that the funds could be used for any component of the student’s cost of attendance or for emergency costs that arose due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care) or child care.
- How to request funds through the survey application link included in the email and the deadline for requesting funds of Sunday, February 27th. The survey link asked students for their student id, name, email address and asked students to certify that they had been impacted by COVID-19 and that they would use the funds for the allowable costs described in the email.
On February 21, 2022 students who had not yet submitted the survey application were emailed by the Financial Aid office a reminder about the ARP funds and the due date.
How funds would be distributed
Students requesting funding were assigned a level based on their expected family contribution (EFC) on file with the Financial Aid office. The following levels were used:
EFC of $6,500 or less
EFC between $6,501 to $15,000
EFC between $15,001 to $25,000
EFC greater than $25,000
The grant amounts were calculated by determining a base amount for students with an EFC between $15,001 and $25,000 ($768.52) and then increasing the funding amount 50% for students with an EFC between $6,501 and $15,000 ($1,152.78) and doubling the amount for students with an EFC of $6,500 or less ($1,537.04). The base amount was decreased by 50% for students with an EFC greater than $25,000 ($384.26).
On Monday, February 28, ARP student emergency grants were posted to students accounts to be either automatically disbursed on Tuesday, March 1 by direct deposit or check (under the same process used for student refunds) or to be applied to the student account balance based on the student’s direction to do so.
The Student Accounts office sent out an email to all students receiving funds on Tuesday, March 1 notifying them of the amount of their grant and that the funds would be disbursed later that day.
ARP Institutional Portion Required Response: March 31 quarterly report (PDF).