CARES Act: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or, CARES Act, was passed by Congress on March 27th, 2020. This bill allotted $2.2 trillion to provide fast and direct economic aid to the American people negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of that money, approximately $14 billion was given to the Office of Postsecondary Education as the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or HEERF.
Note: This page is dedicated to the first HEERF grant funding established by the CARES Act. Information pertaining to the new funding (HEERF II) established by the CRRSAA can be found at this link. Information about the HEERF III established by the American Rescue Plan can be found at this link.
January 28, 2021: The Department is committed to supporting grantees in meeting HEERF reporting requirements. To provide institutions more flexibility we are extending the reporting deadline until
February 8, 2021: for reporting HEERF data. A letter from the Acting Assistant Secretary can be accessed here (PDF, 138K).
January 14, 2021: The U.S. Department of Education announced today an additional $21.2 billion is now available to higher education institutions to ensure learning continues for students during the COVID-19 pandemic under the CRRSAA as HEERF II. Information pertaining to the new HEERF II funding can be found at our CRRSAA: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II) page here.
January 5, 2021: The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021, enacted on December 27, 2020, provided $22.7 billion for institutions of higher education. Information regarding the distribution of these funds is forthcoming and will be posted on this website when available.
January 5, 2021: As announced in today’s Federal Register, the newly enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 supersedes the Department of Education’s December 23, 2020 Federal Register notice that reopened the HEERF grant program application period for certain limited applicants. The 2021 Appropriations Act prevents the Department from accepting or processing any applications for new awards under section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act (i.e., the “Student Aid Portion” program (CFDA 84.425E) and the “Institutional Portion” program (CFDA 84.425F)).
While the Department cannot accept or process any applications for CARES Act section 18004(a)(1) program funds, we are still able to accept applications for section 18004(a)(2) and (a)(3) HEERF programs (CFDAs 84.425J, 84.425K, 84.425L, 84.425M, 84.425N) from applicants that meet one of the five conditions described in the Reopening Notice and that we verified previously have attempted to apply through grants.gov for one of these HEERF grant opportunities. Applicants for those funds must submit their revised or corrected applications no later than January 11, 2021.
January 5, 2021: The reporting period for the first HEERF annual report begins today and ends on February 1, 2021. The grantee reporting portal can be accessed here. A user guide, webinar, and other resources can be accessed here. All HEERF grantees are required to submit an annual report during this reporting period.
December 11, 2020: All Institutions are required to submit HEERF annual performance reports via the Annual Report Data Collection System. As part of this, every institution is required to submit to heerfannual@ed.gov the names and email addresses of those individuals who will be authorized to edit and submit your institution’s HEERF annual performance report. The Submitter is the one grant official who will have the authority to submit the report on behalf of the grantee. The Editors are users who will be able to complete, but not submit, the data collection form. The Submitter will have Editor privileges and may also answer questions in the data collection form.
If your institution has not already responded to our outreach emails, please send their names and email addresses in the following format to heerfannual@ed.gov:
Your institution must tell us who will be the Submitter and Editor(s) for your HEERF annual report as soon as possible if you have not done so already. The reporting period for the first HEERF annual report will be January 5 to February 1, 2021. More information is available at our reporting page here.
Congress created several different formula and discretionary allocations within HEERF. Please click on the links below to be taken for information and resources for the specific program or distribution.