CRRSA Act

Last updated 11/30/2021     Go to Federal Aid Summary Page

Coronavirus Response & Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act & Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II)

The U.S. government provided emergency funding to colleges and universities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CRRSA Act provides funds similar to the CARES Act and was enacted to provide a second round of emergency funding. Both of these acts extended Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF).

Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding

Chico State University received $9,979,696 in CRRSAA Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students pursuant to signing the required Certification and Agreement with the U.S. Department of Education on February 16, 2021. The campus also received an additional allocation of $1,992,922 on March 4, 2021 as a minority-serving institution (MSI). The campus once again (as with the CARES Act) made the decision to augment the funding of the Emergency Financial Aid Grants with this full MSI allocation, increasing the amount of emergency aid to students.

For these Spring 2021 awards, remaining CARES funds totaling $207,593 were contributed, as well as CRRSAA Institutional Portion funds in the amount of $1,119,389. The campus also contributed $256,400 towards emergency grants to assist students who did not qualify under HEERF guidelines, for a grand total of $13,556,000 in student support. 

As of August 2021, $1,800 of Emergency Financial Aid Grants received under the CRRSA Act was returned by students. The campus distributed the $1,800 in returned funds as new grants to eligible students in October 2021. As of November 2021, $50,900 of Emergency Financial Aid Grants issued in Spring 2021 were stale-dated and returned as uncashed. The campus intends to issue these funds in Spring 2022 as new student emergency financial aid grants.

Who was eligible?

Students did not need to submit a FAFSA application or demonstrate financial need for CRRSA Act funding. All students enrolled in a program leading to a degree or a teaching credential were eligible, including those enrolled in a completely online program. Students who were not eligible for federal funding received funds from CSU, Chico institutional sources.

What could grant funds be used for?

HEERF grant awards were designed to support student expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognized that many students are struggling, and our hope was that this round of relief would assist with expenses related to COVID-19, including increased costs for housing, food, course materials, technology, health care, and childcare. Students could choose to utilize the grant funds to pay current or future university charges but that was at the student’s discretion.

Grant Amounts

Grant amounts varied by campus and by student, depending on-campus resources and student circumstances. However, grant awards provided via HEERF dollars were not restricted by cost of attendance ceilings and were not counted against a student’s future financial aid award.

Grant Amount Determination

Every student has been affected by the pandemic in one way or another. In order to get the funds to students as quickly as possible and since students did not have to document a financial need, a “block grant” approach was used. CRRSA Act emergency relief funding to students was allocated to eligible students in the manner shown below, with over $13.5M in relief distributed to students.

When and how were grants distributed?

As mentioned above, we worked to disburse eligible students’ awards as quickly as possible. The block grant award amounts shown above were posted to 15,266 student accounts starting on April 1, 2021. The grants were automatic and students did not need to apply for funding.

Payments were issued directly into each student’s bank account (if on file in the Student Center under E-Refund) or mailed to a student’s local address. Students could expect their payment into their bank account on Thursday, April 8, 2021, and checks were mailed out to the local address in the Student Center on April 9, 2021. We recommended that students visit the Student Center to review their local address information and/or sign up for e-Refund (direct deposit) if they had not already. Information on how to access e-Refund can be found on the campus Student Financial Office web page(opens in new window). Students should remain vigilant against phishing or scam emails.

What if I need additional emergency food or housing crisis support?

We understand that the pandemic has caused a lot of financial strain and Chico State is here to support you. Please visit the Basic Needs website(opens in new window) for information regarding emergency food and shelter assistance available through our Basic Needs Initiative. 

While no amount of money can compensate for the full burden experienced by so many of our students and families during this pandemic, we hope these relief payments assisted our students in continuing their academic goals while at Chico State.

Higher Education Institutional Portion Funding

CRRSA Act Institutional Portion funds in the amount of $21,624,160 were also awarded on February 16, 2021. Please see our Institutional Portion Funding(opens in new window) page to see how these funds are being spent by Chico State.

Please refer to the Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reports linked on our Federal Aid Summary Page(opens in new window) for more details on the breakdown of expenditures.

Given the high-profile nature of this funding, be alert for phishing attacks. Remember, Chico State will never ask you to email/text your password or ask you to verify your banking information via email.