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

On Friday, April 10th Harford Community College signed an agreement to receive an allotment of money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. On Saturday April 11th the agreement was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education. Consistent with Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act, at least 50 percent of the funds received will be given directly to students.

On April 20, 2020 Harford Community College received $1,171,832.00 from the Department of Education pursuant to Harford Community College’s Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students. Harford Community College has been carefully planning for the disbursement of the grant money to students in accordance with federal U.S. Department of Education regulations. On May 13, 2020, $519,000 of this emergency aid was disbursed to students in accordance with the methodology noted below.

In order to meet the criteria to receive the emergency aid this spring, students must be eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. In order to ensure compliance with this requirement, students must have completed a 2019-2020 FAFSA. As of May 7th, 6,821 number of students have completed a 2019-2020 FAFSA. If a student has not yet completed a 2019-2020 FAFSA, there is still time. To complete the FAFSA visit http://studentaid.gov/ and use the Harford Community College school code: 002075.

As of May 13th, the disbursement of this emergency financial aid began to 1,038 selected students.

The methodology for disbursing the emergency financial aid is as follows:

• Grants of $500 were disbursed to 1,038 Spring 2020 students who remain enrolled in one or more courses throughout the spring semester and have an expected family contribution (EFC) typically between $0-$5,576 as determined by the 2019-2020 FAFSA. Students who have an EFC between this range who are attending HCC in a solely online format since the beginning of the Spring semester ORenrolled in courses after March 13th are excluded from this aid.
• Students who completed a FAFSA for 2019-2020 and have an EFC that is greater than $5,576 can use the this linkto request CARES emergency financial aid in the amount of $500. Students who withdrew from all courses this spring semester or have been attending HCC solely in an online format since the beginning of the semester are not eligible for this grant. Limited funds are available and submission of a form does not guarantee an award. Students who automatically received the grant based on their EFC are not eligible to apply for additional funding.

For further questions about funding available to students through the CARES Act email studentaffairs@harford.edu.