TUCSON — On Thursday, the University of Arizona began distributing some of the $15.4 million in CARES Act funds it received for student emergency relief. The University intends to use all of the funds to provide emergency financial aid grants to students within one year of students applying for the grants.
The University of Arizona disbursed the first batch of funds on May 14 to 8,013 eligible undergraduate, graduate and professional students who experienced disruption as the result of COVID-19 and were displaced from campus housing, lost funding for meal plans, had to unexpectedly travel long distances and/or live in rural areas of Arizona.
The university is awarding the emergency relief as follows:
● approximately $5 million in direct grants to students
● approximately $5 million via an application process embedded in the current Student Emergency Fund process
● approximately $5 million during summer session and the fall semester
According to federal guidelines, these funds are available exclusively to students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the coronavirus. Funds cannot be granted on need alone or due to financial loss because of COVID-19.