SC CARES ACT

CARES Act Student Portion - Final Report

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Emergency Student

Financial Aid Grants

Final Report as of November 30, 2020

The information below is provided in fulfillment of the requirement associated with the Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

1. On July 15, 2020, Construction Training Center (the “College”) signed and returned to the Department of Education (the “Department”) the Certification and Agreement. No less than 50% of the College’s total award was used to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants directly to students.

2. On April 21, 2020, the College received confirmation from the Department that it had been awarded $37,763 as its allocation for the Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

3. As of September 22, 2020, the College distributed all $37,763 of the Emergency Financial Aid Grant funding to eligible students.

4. The estimated total number of students at the College as of April 24th eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act was 40 students.

5. The total number of students who have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act is 40 students.

6. The initial distribution of CARES Act funds ($37,763) in early September was directed to Title IV eligible students enrolled in the College’s National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) General Construction Crafts Labor during the summer or fall semesters based on the fact that the students were significantly negatively impacted by the COVID-related disruptions including expenses associated with the sudden switch to remote learning and fieldwork in March. The funds were distributed by formula to all eligible students in the NCCER. Most eligible students received up to $944 to cover expenses such as those related to PPE, technology (hardware, software and/or internet connectivity), healthcare, and child care.

On September 20, 2020, the College distributed the remainder of all funds. Given the near-universal impact of COVID-caused unexpected expenses, a focus on getting the funds into students’ hands as quickly as possible, and a desire to prevent inequitable access to the funds, the College distributed the funds equally to each skilled craft labor student who had completed a FAFSA form for 2019-2020, who was Title IV eligible, who demonstrated financial need by qualifying for needs-based financial aid during the Spring 2020 semester, and who was actively enrolled as of May 1, 2020. Students were notified multiple times about the fact that the purpose of the CARES Act funds is to provide financial resources to help students deal with expenses incurred as a result of the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus such as the costs of food, housing, course materials, technology (hardware, software or connectivity), healthcare, travel, and arrangements for the retrieval/removal of their belongings from campus. The skilled craft labor students were asked to affirm that they had qualifying expenses.

All of the students were NCCER certification-seeking; none were enrolled in a distance-only program; and almost all of the students were enrolled full-time.

7. Students who received funds were sent an e-mail on April 2020, notifying them about the distribution of funds to help them offset extra expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19 disruptions to the certification programs.

All students received a communication via e-mail on April 2020, describing the CARES Act, eligibility criteria, and the examples of qualifying expenses. It also referenced the fact that the funds are not taxable.