Acknowledgment of Funding and Certification

As a recipient of federal coronavirus relief funding under the CARES Act, PLU was not required to submit an application for federal coronavirus relief funding provided under the American Rescue Plan (ARP). PLU received its allocation of ARP funding on March 19, 2021. In keeping with the terms of the acceptance of these funds, PLU will use $3,828,348 under the American Rescue Plan to provide emergency funding to students for expenses that arise due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health), or child care.

Aggregate Award Amount

PLU received a total of $7,656,695 in ARP funding, of which $3,828,348 will provide emergency funding to students for expenses that arise due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health), or child care. Students with exceptional need will be prioritized in accordance with the terms and conditions of accepting the ARP funds.

ARP Reporting Schedule

The Department of Education requires regular reporting from each institution of its ARP funding expenditures. Reports must be posted on the institution’s primary website, and the first report is due 30 days after receipt of the institution’s allocation. Reports are then due on a quarterly basis no later than 10 days after the end of the calendar quarter: January 10, April 10, July 10, October 10. At minimum, PLU will update the section below – Funds Distributed and Awards Made – on a quarterly basis in accordance with the dates outlined by the Department of Education. As of April 19, 2021, PLU had not yet distributed any ARP funding to eligible students. PLU did not begin distributing the student portion of its ARP funding until August 2021.

Funds Distributed and Awards Made

As of October 1, 2021, 1,164 students received a total of $2,766,524.36.

As of January 5, 2022, 1,513 students received a total of $3,828,348. This is PLU’s final disbursement, and there were no further funds available. This is PLU’s FINAL report.

Student Eligibility

PLU distributed the student portion of ARP funding in two rounds of awarding.

Upon receipt of the ARP funding in March 2021, PLU identified 2,001 of its current students as potentially eligible for the first round of emergency funding.

In October of 2021, PLU identified 662 students who were new to PLU as of the Fall 2021 semester as potentially eligible for the second round of emergency funding.

Application Process

Round 1

To expedite the awarding of the ARP funds as quickly as possible to as many eligible students as possible, we asked the 2,001 potentially eligible students to respond Yes or No to a statement of affirmation on their student portal. If students affirmed that they were encountering emergency expenses related to the coronavirus, then they were awarded ARP funding.

We also asked these students to respond Yes or No to a question asking if they wanted their ARP funding applied to an outstanding balance on their student account. Emergency funds in excess of an outstanding balance were issued directly to the student via ACH or paper check. Likewise, students without an outstanding balance received their ARP funding directly via ACH or paper check.

PLU emailed eligible students on July 30, 2021 with instructions to reply to these two questions no later than Friday, August 6th in order to be considered for ARP funding. Students were sent reminder emails on August 3, 2021 and August 5, 2021.

Students with a 0 EFC received $5,641.75 while other Pell-eligible students received $3,106.69.  Students who were not Pell eligible received $994.67. Eligible students were notified via email on August 19, 2021 of the amount they would be receiving and when the funds would be issued.

Round 2

For round 2, we used the same process that we used for round 1.

PLU emailed the 662 eligible students on October 4, 2021 with instructions to reply to the two questions on their student portal no later than Friday, October 15th in order to be considered for ARP funding. Students were sent reminder emails on October 12, 2021 and October 14, 2021.

Students with a 0 EFC received $4,782.99 while other Pell-eligible students received $3,237.27.  Students who were not Pell eligible received $1,701.64. Eligible students were notified via email on October 21, 2021 of the amount they would be receiving and when the funds would be issued.

Additional Guidance

Using the application process above, PLU distributed approximately 72% of its ARP funding during round 1.

The remaining funds were distributed during round 2 to new students who started at PLU as of the Fall 2021 semester.

Additional Reporting 

Click here for PLU’s  Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Report for HEERF I through III Institutional Funding.