CARES DISBURSEMENT

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides federal government support for hardships caused by the coronavirus public health crisis and associated economic fallout. One section of the CARES Act established the Higher Education Emergency Relief fund and is providing the nation's colleges and universities funding to then provide grants to students. This funding also covers a portion of unbudgeted costs and lost revenue due to the disruption of campus activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

California State University, Bakersfield signed and returned the Department of Education Certification and Agreement related to the CARES Act on April 17, 2020.

CSU Bakersfield received a total of $13,588,942 under the CARES Act. Of that sum, $6,794,471 was disbursed to students in the form of Emergency Financial Aid Grants. As of May 14, 2020, 100% of funds have been distributed to students.

A total of 8,787 students were identified as eligible to be considered for the Emergency Financial Aid Grants. A total of 8,580 eligible students were awarded the grants.

The methods used by CSU Bakersfield to determine which students were eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants and how much they would receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act:

Students must have been enrolled in a degree-seeking program at CSU Bakersfield as of May 5, 2020, to be eligible for an Emergency Financial Aid Grant award under the CARES Act.  CSU Bakersfield identified three subsets of its student population:

1. Students with the lowest income status who received maximum state and/or federal aid;
2. Students with some financial need prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; and 
3. All other students without regard to prior state and/or federal aid received.

 

Students with the lowest income status who received maximum levels of state and/or federal financial aid.  CSU Bakersfield anticipated that this group of students would have experienced disproportionately greater hardship. These students were identified based on a combination of existing measures of high financial need (including maximum Pell award recipient, Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) of $0, etc.) These students would receive an automatic grant of a designated amount to mitigate financial hardship in the current term. Students in this category were eligible for the maximum award amount based on enrollment status.

Students with some financial need who received some state and/or federal financial aid. A proportion of students received some financial aid but were also paying out of pocket for educational expenses prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. CSU Bakersfield anticipated that these students would likely face greater financial difficulty and need more assistance than normal. These students could be identified based on a combination of existing measures of financial need and targeted to receive an automatic grant of a designated dollar amount – less than the lowest-income students receive based on enrollment status.  

All other students. Any eligible, currently enrolled student received a minimum Emergency Financial Aid grant to mitigate financial losses due to the impacts of COVID-19.  This distribution was based on enrollment status.

CSU Bakersfield established a minimum grant amount that would be automatically awarded to every enrolled student eligible for federal financial aid without requiring an application process. Grant aid awards were as follows:

 

Instructions, directions and guidance provided by CSU Bakersfield to students concerning the Emergency Financial Aid Grants.  

Information regarding the CARES Act was made available on this site and CSUB's campus-wide daily email updates.