[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 169 (Monday, August 31, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53802-53804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19041]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Notice of Public Posting Requirement of Grant Information for 
Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) Grantees

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Education (Department) publishes a 
revised Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Electronic 
Announcement (EA), originally posted May 6, 2020, that describes the 
public reporting requirements for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to 
Students.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack Cox, U.S. Department of 
Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, 
Room 270-60, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 251-9672. Email: 
[email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-
877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department publishes a revised EA, 
originally dated May 6, 2020, that describes the public reporting 
requirements for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students. This 
revised EA, in conjunction with approved information collection under 
OMB control number 1801-0005, requires grantees receiving awards under 
Section

[[Page 53803]]

18004(a)(1) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act 
(CARES Act), Public Law 116-136, 134 Stat. 281 (March 27, 2020), to 
publicly post certain grant information on the institution's primary 
website as part of the reporting requirements under Section 18004(e) of 
the CARES Act. This revised EA maintains the same seven reporting 
elements, but it adds a clarifying footnote for reporting item four and 
decreases the frequency of reporting after the initial 30-day period 
from every 45 days thereafter to every calendar quarter. The revised EA 
is in the Appendix of this notice.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this 
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published 
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To 
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.
    Program Authority: Section 18004(e) of the CARES Act.

Robert L. King,
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education.

Appendix--Revised May 06, 2020 IFAP Electronic Announcement

Originally Posted: May 06, 2020
Author: Office of Postsecondary Education
Subject: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Reporting--Emergency 
Financial Aid Grants to Students

    Section 18004(e) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 
Security Act (``CARES Act'' or the ``Act''), Public Law 116-136, 134 
Stat. 281 (March 27, 2020), directs institutions receiving funds 
under Section 18004 of the Act to submit (in a time and manner 
required by the Secretary) a report to the Secretary describing the 
use of funds distributed from the Higher Education Emergency Relief 
Fund (``HEERF''). Section 18004(c) of the CARES Act requires 
institutions to use no less than 50 percent of the funds received 
from Section 18004(a)(1) of the Act to provide Emergency Financial 
Aid Grants to Students for expenses related to the disruption of 
campus operations due to coronavirus (including eligible expenses 
under a student's cost of attendance such as food, housing, course 
materials, technology, health care, and child care).
    On April 9, 2020, the Department of Education (``Department'') 
published documents related to the Emergency Financial Aid Grants, 
including a letter from Secretary Betsy DeVos, a form Certification 
and Agreement for institutions to sign and return to access the 
funds, and a list of institutional allocations under Section 
18004(a)(1)of the CARES Act. The Certification and Agreement directs 
each institution applying for HEERF funds to comply with Section 
18004(e) of the CARES Act and submit an initial report to the 
Secretary thirty (30) days from the date of the institution's 
Certification and Agreement to the Department. Each HEERF 
participating institution must post the information listed below on 
the institution's primary website, as an initial report under 
Section 18004(e) of the CARES Act. This report is associated with 
approved information collection under OMB control number 1801-0005.
    The Department encourages institutions to report as soon as 
possible, but no later than 30 days after the publication of this 
notice or 30 days after the date the Department obligated funds to 
the institution for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students, 
whichever comes later.
    The following information must appear in a format and location 
that is easily accessible to the public. This information must also 
be updated no later than 10 days after the end of each calendar 
quarter (September 30, and December 31, March 31, June 30) 
thereafter, unless the Secretary specifies an alternative method of 
reporting:
    (1) An acknowledgement that the institution signed and returned 
to the Department the Certification and Agreement and the assurance 
that the institution has used, or intends to use, no less than 50 
percent of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES 
Act to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.
    (2) The total amount of funds that the institution will receive 
or has received from the Department pursuant to the institution's 
Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to 
Students.
    (3) The total amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants 
distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act 
as of the date of submission (i.e., as of the initial report and 
every calendar quarter thereafter).
    (4) The estimated total number of students at the institution 
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.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ For the purposes of this report, institutions may determine 
the number of eligible students based on the number of students for 
whom the institution has received an Institutional Student 
Information Record (ISIR) plus the number of students who completed 
an alternative application form developed by the institution for 
this purpose. The institution may then apply this number to its own 
methodological framework for disbursal of funds to produce a final 
total of eligible students at the institution. The institution is 
not asked to make assumptions about the potential eligibility of 
students for whom the institution has not received an ISIR or an 
alternative application.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (5) The total number of students who have received an Emergency 
Financial Aid Grant to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the 
CARES Act.
    (6) The method(s) used by the institution to determine which 
students receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants and how much they 
would receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
    (7) Any instructions, directions, or guidance provided by the 
institution to students concerning the Emergency Financial Aid 
Grants.
    * Note: For the initial report and each report thereafter, 
institutions should use data suppression and other methodologies to 
protect the personally identifiable information from student 
education records consistent with the Family Educational Rights and 
Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g; 34 CFR part 99). This means that if 
the total number of eligible students or the total number of 
students who received Emergency Financial Aid Grants is less than 
10, but not 0, then the institution must display the total number of 
students eligible and/or the total number of students who received 
Emergency Financial Aid Grants as less than 10 (``< 10'') on the 
publicly available websites controlled by the institution.
    Institutions that accurately report the information listed above 
will meet the initial reporting requirements under Section 18004(e) 
of the CARES Act. Institutions that the Department determines have 
not met the reporting requirement as described in this notice may, 
consistent with the Department's authority to monitor grantee 
compliance, be subject to appropriate enforcement actions, up to and 
including being determined to be ineligible for certain other CARES 
Act program funding. For other subsequent reports for this program 
and other related HEERF programs, the Department will notify 
participating institutions of the Department's preferred reporting 
method. The Department may choose to collect additional information 
from institutions in accordance with the reporting requirement in 
Section 18004(e) of the CARES Act and the Certification and 
Agreement.
    For more information on the HEERF, please visit the Department's 
CARES Act: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund page at: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/caresact.html.

Contact Information

    If you have questions about the information in this 
announcement, contact [email protected].

Paperwork Burden Statement

    According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), no 
persons are required to respond to a collection of information 
unless

[[Page 53804]]

such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB 
control number for this information collection is 1801-0005. Public 
reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to 
average 30 minutes 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. Under the PRA, participants are required 
to respond to this collection to obtain or retain benefit. If you 
have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate or 
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: Jack Cox, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20202.

[FR Doc. 2020-19041 Filed 8-28-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P