CARES Act email to branch campuses

DRAFT EMAIL to Branch Campuses

We are writing to inform you of your potential eligibility for funding under section 18004(a)(2) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136 (March 27, 2020).

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) made initial allocations under section 18004(a)(2) of the CARES Act to institutions eligible for specific grant programs under titles III, V, and VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) (see methodology document). We allocated the initial round of funding to eligible main campuses at the 6-digit OPEID level, and their branch campus enrollment numbers were accounted for in those calculations. However, the Department recognizes that a branch campus can apply for designation as an eligible applicant—independent of their main campus—for programs under titles III and V of the HEA, if they meet certain eligibility requirements. Therefore, the Department has reserved some funds to make awards to eligible branch campuses whose main campuses did not receive an award under 18004(a)(2).

According to the FY 2020 OPE Eligibility Matrix, your branch campus meets the eligibility requirements for one or more of the following title III and V program(s): Strengthening Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving Institutions (ANNH), Strengthening Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Strengthening Native American-serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI), Strengthening Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI), Developing Hispanic-serving Institutions (DHSI), Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (PPOHA), and/or the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP). In addition, your main campus has not received funding under section 18004(a)(2) of the CARES Act.

In order for the Department to calculate the amount of funding your branch campus is eligible to receive from the appropriate program allocations, please provide the following data:

• If your branch campus did not report enrollment data in IPEDS in 2018-19:

  1. Full-time equivalent total enrollment for the 2017-18 academic year;

  2. Full-time equivalent undergraduate enrollment for the 2017-18 academic year;

  3. Total unduplicated undergraduate enrollment for the 2017-18 academic year;

  4. Total enrollment as of Fall 2018;

  5. Total students enrolled as of Fall 2018 exclusively in courses considered distance education courses;

  6. Total undergraduate enrollment as of Fall 2018; and

  7. Total undergraduate students enrolled as of Fall 2018 exclusively in courses considered distance education courses.

Note: For institutions operating on a traditional academic year calendar (semester, trimester, quarter, or 4-1-4), Fall 2018 enrollment should be reported as of the institution's official fall reporting date or October 15, 2018. For institutions operating on an "other academic calendar," a calendar that differs by program, or enrolls students on a continuous basis (referred to as program reporters), fall enrollment is reported for students enrolled any time during the period August 1 and October 31.

• For all branch campuses:

  1. The unduplicated number of Pell recipients for the 2018-19 award year at your branch campus.

In order to be considered for an allocation from the section 18004(a)(2) funds, please provide the requested data to Jason Cottrell at [email protected] by [insert date 3 weeks after email is sent]. Once the Department has calculated your allocation amount based on the data you provide, please apply through grants.gov, including submitting a completed Certification and Agreement, according to the procedures associated with your eligible grant program: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/caresact.html.

Paperwork Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number.  The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1840-0843.  Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.  The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain benefit (CARES Act).  If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate, suggestions for improving this individual collection, or if you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual form, application or survey, please contact the Office of Postsecondary Education directly at [email protected].