Dear Lehman Colleagues:
We had a brief hint of spring last week, and now it feels like that was a tease, but I’m pretty sure warmer spring days will soon be here. I’m ready for them, as I’m sure you are.
I have been frequently asked about the federal stimulus funds designated for Lehman College and what follows is a brief explanation of them, based on what we currently know.
CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF I)
There have been a number of federal stimulus bills signed into law, and three of them have included funding earmarked for higher education.
The first such one, the CARES Act, passed April 2020, included nearly $14 billion for higher education that was allocated to the Office of Postsecondary Education as the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or HEERF. Like the two subsequent acts, the funds were apportioned to colleges and universities largely according to a formula based the number of Pell-eligible students at each institution. For Lehman College, that amount was $13.3 million plus another $959,000 through HEERF funding for Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions, DHSIs.
$6.6 million of the $13.3 million for Lehman College was distributed directly to students last summer, and the average amount for eligible students was $500. Students needed to complete the FAFSA form and the amount received was based on Pell eligibility, among other factors and was determined by the CUNY Central administration. Undocumented, DACA and international students were excluded from receiving these funds.
Although the CARES Act was passed almost one year ago, with one small exception, we have yet to receive the institutional part of the funds, which is the other $6.6 million, plus the DHSI $959,000; $7.6 million in total.That exception is $247,000 we received for expanding mental health services to students. With those funds, we hired five part-time counselors. We have not received the rest of the funds because they were held back due to the unresolved New York State budget for this fiscal year, FY21. Now that the FY21 CUNY budget is set, we will be receiving the funds, although we do not know when and in what amounts.
We do not actually receive any of the funds until we submit documentation of paid in full qualifying expenses We submit quarterly reports to CUNY. The US Department of Educations (USDOE) required the College to submit a report listing all expenditures for the period March 13 through December 31, 2020.
The funds must be used for approved COVID-related expenses, including PPE, revenue loss, equipment and other costs that can be directly attributed to the pandemic. We have submitted several million for reimbursement so far and our submissions have been approved by the USDOE, so we expect some reimbursement soon. Recently we were advised that the HEERF I CARES Act funds will be extended into FY22, so, we do not anticipate receiving all of the $7.6 million for some months.
CRRSAA: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II)
In December 2020, this bill became law and it included $21.2 billion for higher education through HEERF II. Lehman was allocated $25.9 million, of which $6.6 was designated for direct payment to students. Lehman was allocated an additional $1.6 million under the DHSI program, bringing the total to $27.5 million. So far, none of the CRRSAA funds have been released and the USDOE is still formulating the rules. Under CRRSAA, the restrictions were reduced and those changes applied to all CARES Act funds spent after December 27, 2020, the day CRRSAA became law.
American Rescue Plan
The stimulus bill signed into law last week includes approximately $36 billion for nearly 3,500 public and private, nonprofit colleges and universities, and approximately $395.8 million for about 1,630 for-profit institutions. Institutions will be required to spend at least half of their allocations on emergency financial aid grants to students. The bill additionally provides nearly $3 billion to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and other minority serving institutions.
The American Council of Education has estimated that Lehman College will receive $45 million and that of that amount, $22.5 million will be distributed directly to students. Once again, Lehman will receive additional DHSI funds which will be at least as much as those from CRRSAA. As with CRRSAA, the USDOE has not yet created the rules for use of these funds, so we can only speculate, and the amounts presented here are the maximum we might eventually receive.
The Impact on Lehman College
In total, Lehman College has been nominally allocated approximately $86 million in the three bills. Of that amount, somewhere in the neighborhood of $36 million may eventually be given directly to students. We do not know when the CRRSAA funds will be distributed to students and how the rules for doing so will be different from the CARES Act. So far, there has been no commitment by the USDOE to include undocumented and international students as recipients.
The approximately $50 million of the funds for the college will be used to purchase MERV 13 filters and other equipment, PPE, lost revenue, extra personnel costs for the increased cleaning and to assist with technology use, classroom upgrades for hybrid and distance learning, technology for students, staff and faculty, and other COVID-related expenses.
These funds will take a long time arriving, and if the CARES Act funds are an indication, will still be arriving in FY24, over two years from now. They will be very helpful both for students and for the college, but we do not know if they will be sufficient to cover the costs of the pandemic, which are as yet unknown. One of the uses we hope the new USDOE guidelines will allow is payment of past due tuition. This would help students take care of overdue bills, and also help the college in collecting tuition. Currently, the college is far below its usual tuition collections, adding many millions to lost revenue this year.
As we learn more about these funds we will keep the campus informed.
Daniel Lemons
