Harper College offices will be closed Monday, September 2 in observance of Labor Day.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) (HEERF III) allocated $22,332,991 to Harper College in May and June 2021 to provide support to students impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and to reimburse Harper's institutional costs associated with coronavirus.
The ARP (HEERF III) funding provided continued support to higher education institutions as they adapted operations to the COVID-19 pandemic and to keep students enrolled throughout the pandemic. Similar to previous HEERF awards, ARP provided funding through a student portion for emergency financial aid grants to students and an institutional costs portion. The student portion provided financial aid grants to students that could be used to offset their cost of attendance or for costs that result from the pandemic. Examples of such costs include tuition, housing, food, childcare, and healthcare.
The institutional costs portion of the ARP funding was used to offset costs Harper incurred during and due to the pandemic, such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), holding additional course sections to maintain social distancing for faculty and students, and technology costs for the transition to distance education. ARP funding also required higher education institutions to implement evidence-based practices to monitor and suppress coronavirus in accordance with public health guidelines and to conduct direct outreach to financial aid applicants about the opportunity to receive a financial aid adjustment due to recent unemployment of a family member or independent student, or other circumstances.
Harper College agreed to the terms and conditions outlined within Section 2003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) through an agreement with the Department of Education. Harper received a combined total of $22,332,991 for both Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students and Institutional Costs. The Certification and Agreement assured that Harper College would use no less than $11,254,216 to provide emergency financial aid grants directly to students.
On June 30, 2021, Harper College received the award for the student portion of ARP funding. The College continued to provide Student Emergency Aid awards to students through an online Student Emergency Aid application until all funding was allocated. As of June 30, 2022, 6,709 students have received $11,254,216 from the ARP (HEERF III) student funding.
Due to new reporting guidelines from the Department of Education effective July 1, 2021, one compiled report is required for all institutional HEERF funding. Previously posted individual CRRSAA and ARP reports prepared before this new guidance have been archived and marked as such.
