Federal CARES Act Funding – Reporting

McHenry County College (MCC) has received money from the federal government through recently passed legislation, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (HEERF I, HEERF II, and HEERF III) grant awards. Following legislative guidelines, MCC will distribute these funds to help those students most negatively impacted and facing significant hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. CARES Act funding will be critical to those students as they will continue their need to find resources for tuition and living/educational expenses.

As of June 30, 2023, MCC has awarded $10.1 million dollars to 14,075 students.

  • Summer 2023 CARES Act Distribution
  • Spring 2023 CARES Act Distribution
  • Fall 2022 CARES Act Distribution
  • Summer 2022 CARES Act Distribution
  • Spring 2022 CARES Act Distribution

    Spring 2022 Federal - HEERF III/ARP Distribution

    Total Funding Distributed to Date – The amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students was $5,725,681 from HEERF III funds.

    Total Eligible Students – Based on the HEERF guidelines, 8,768 students were enrolled this spring at MCC and were eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants.

    Total Number of Students Receiving Aid – Distributed a total of $5,725,681 to 6,981 students as of March 31.

    Method of Determination – An application submitted by the student along with the following items were used to determine eligibility for an award.

    • Students indicated need by submitting an online application
    • Students reported facing difficulties as a result of the pandemic
    • Full- or Part-Time Status
    • Non-Credit Career Training students in eligible programs
    • Eligible Running Start students

    Awardees

    • $400 = students registered for 3-8 credits
    • $800 = students registered for 9 or more credits
    • Students had the opportunity to acknowledge using funds to pay for a past due balance
    • Students who did not want to apply the award to a past due balance received their award as a direct payment

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  • Fall 2021 CARES Act Distribution

    Fall Federal - HEERF III/ARP Distribution

    Total Funding Distributed to Date – The amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students was $4,311,560 from HEERF III funds.

    Total Eligible Students – Based on the HEERF guidelines, 8,765 students were enrolled this fall at MCC and were eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants.

    Total Number of Students Receiving Aid – Distributed a total of $4,311,560 to 4,592 students as of December 31.

    Method of Determination – An application submitted by the student along with the following items were used to determine eligibility for an award.

    • Students indicated need by submitting an online application
    • Students reported facing difficulties as a result of the pandemic
    • Full- or Part-Time Status
    • Non-Credit Career Training students in eligible programs
    • Eligible Running Start students

    Awardees

    • $750 = students registered for 3-8 credits
    • $1,500 = students registered for 9 or more credits
    • Students had the opportunity to acknowledge using funds to pay for a past due balance
    • Students who did not want to apply the award to a past due balance received their award as a direct payment

    00769100_heerf_q42021_011022

    00769100 HEERF Q32021 101021

  • Summer 2021 CARES Act Distribution

    Summer 2021 Federal - HEERF III/ARP Distribution

    1. Acknowledgement – MCC signed and returned to the Department of Education the Certification and Agreement which assures that the institution will use the applicable amount of funds designated under CARES Act programs to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grant to students.
    2. Total Available Funding – MCC received in total $6,955,466, (HEERF I-$1, 127, 027, HEERF II-$1,127,027, and HEERF III-$4,701,412) from the Department of Education pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants.
    3. Total Funding Distributed to Date – The amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students was $901,500 from HEERF III funds.
    4. Total Eligible Students – Based on the HEERF guidelines, 3,137 students were enrolled this summer at MCC and were eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants.
    5. Total Number of Students Receiving Aid – Distributed a total of $901,500 to 1,217 students.
    6. Method of Determination – An application submitted by the student along with the following items were used to determine eligibility for an award.
      • Students indicated need by submitting an online application
      • Students reported facing difficulties as a result of the pandemic
      • Full- or Part-Time Status
      • Non-Credit Career Training students in eligible programs
      • Eligible Running Start students

      Awardees

      • $1,000 = students registered for 6 or more credits
      • $500 = students registered for 3-5 credits
      • Students had the opportunity to acknowledge using funds to pay a past due balance
      • Students who did not want to apply the award to a past due balance received their award as a direct payment

      00769100 HEERF Q22021 071021

      CARES Act HEERF 063021

  • Spring 2021 CARES Act Distribution

    Spring 2021 Federal - HEERF II/CRRSA Distribution

    1. Acknowledgement – MCC signed and returned to the Department of Education the Certification and Agreement which assures that the institution will use the applicable amount of funds designated under CARES Act programs to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grant to students.
    2. Total Available Funding – MCC received in total $6,955,466, (HEERF I-$1, 127, 027, HEERF II-$1,127,027, and HEERF III-$4,701,412) from the Department of Education pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants.
    3. Total Funding Distributed to Date – The amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students was $1,274,000 from HEERF II funds.
    4. Total Eligible Students – Based on the HEERF guidelines, 7,977 students enrolled for spring 2021 at MCC were eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants.
    5. Total Number of Students Receiving Aid
      • 1,161 students received $1,000 of HEERF II as new Purple Pride Relief fund award recipients for the spring 2021 semester.
      • 226 students had received $500 of GEER Purple Pride Relief funds. These same students received an additional $500 award of HEERF II Purple Pride Relief funds for a total distribution of $1,000 to ensure all students would receive an award in the amount of $1,000 for the spring 2021 semester.
      • Distributed a total of $1,274,000.00 to 1,387 students for the spring 2021 semester
    6. Method of Determination – An application submitted by the student along with the following items were used to determine eligibility for an award.
      • Students indicated need by submitting an online application
      • Students reported facing difficulties as a result of the pandemic
      • Full- or Part-Time Status
      • Non-Credit Career Training students in eligible programs
      • Eligible Running Start students

      Awardees

      • $1,000 = students who applied and indicated being impacted by the pandemic
      • Awards were a direct payment to students

    Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting - Q1

  • Fall 2020 CARES Act Distribution
  • Summer 2020 CARES Act Distribution

    At MCC, 675 students received a CARES Act award for the Summer 2020 term using the following funding formulas. For the Summer 2020 term, due to updated CARES Act funding guidelines, only students who completed the FAFSA for the 19-20 academic year were eligible for a Summer term CARES Act award. Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting - Q3

    Determination for funding was based on the following criteria:

    • Student's FAFSA Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
    • Full or Part-Time Status

    Summer First-Time Awardees

    Students receiving a first-time CARES Act award were eligible for either a $450, $600, or $1,000 award. 377 students received a first-time award.

    • $450 = those with EFC higher than 10,000 and 6 or less hours enrolled
    • $600 = those with EFC higher than 10,000 and 7 or more hours enrolled or those with EFC less than 10,000 and 6 or less hours enrolled
    • $1,000 = those with EFC less than 10,000 and 7 or more hours enrolled
    Summer 2020 First-Time Student CARES Awards
    Amount Awarded Number of Students Dollars Awarded
    $450 102 $45,900
    $600 208 $124,800
    $1000 67 $67,000
      377 students total $237,700 awarded total

    Summer Second-Time Awardees

    Students receiving a second-time CARES Act award were eligible for either a $300, $500, or $600, award. 298 students received a second award, which means they received a CARES Act award in Spring 2020.

    • $300 = Students with EFC higher than 10,000 and 6 or less hours enrolled
    • $500 = those with EFC higher than 10,000 and 7 or more hours enrolled or those with EFC less than 10,000 and 6 or less hours enrolled
    • $600 =  those with EFC less than 10,000 and 7 or more hours enrolled
    Summer 2020 Second-Time Student CARES Awards
    Amount Awarded Number of Students Dollars Awarded
    $300 63 $18,900
    $500 166 $83,000
    $600 69 $41,400
    298 students total $143,300 awarded total

    Summer 2020 CARES Act Award Totals = 675 students receiving a total of $381,000

    $1,130,550 CARES Act funds have all been dispersed to MCC students in Spring and Summer 2020 academic terms

  • Spring 2020 CARES Act Distribution

    As a way to distribute this CARES Act funding most effectively, we established the CARES Act Relief Fund, to be awarded to select MCC credit students enrolled in the Spring 2020 semester. In late April, over 4,000 students were provided a link to a short application, asking them to better explain the impact of their COVID-19 related hardship. A total of 1,550 students responded to the application. Of those 1,550 students, 1,424 students received funding and the remaining 126 students did not express a financial need.

    Determination for funding was based on the following criteria:

    • Student's FAFSA Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
    • Expressed Need in Application
    • Full or Part-Time Status

    Funding levels were established as follows, with total amount of funding for that level noted:

    • Full-Time Students – EFC < $10,000 (305 students) $248,300 of funding
    • Part-Time Students – EFC < $10,000 (334 students) $177,300 of funding
    • Full-Time Students – EFC > $10,000 (103 students) $ 50,000 of funding
    • Part-Time Students – EFC > $10,000 (84 students) $ 28,900 of funding
    • Full-Time Students – No FAFSA (156 students) $75,600 of funding
    • Part-Time Students – No FAFSA (313 students) $110,050 of funding
    • Full-Time Online Students – EFC < $10,000 (8 students) $6,400 of funding
    • Part-Time Online Students – EFC < $10,000 (56 students) $29,000 of funding
    • Full-Time Online Students – EFC > $10,000 (2 students) $ 1,000 of funding
    • Part-Time Online Students – EFC > $10,000 (8 students) $ 2,800 of funding
    • Full-Time Online Students – No FAFSA (2 students) $1,000 of funding
    • Part-Time Online Students – No FAFSA (53 students) $18,850 of funding

    Total funding for all of the above levels amounts to approximately $749,550. Approximately $377,477 remains of CARES Act funds designated for student assistance. Pending available funding, the College will reach out to enrolled students for potential future awards.

    Funds will be available to eligible students during the week of May 18, 2020, and students will be notified of their award in writing via email. Those students who are ineligible for funding will also receive a letter, which includes a list of other resources they may pursue such as Student Success Fund Emergency Funding, Financial Aid, and Scholarship Opportunities.