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Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Report

Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students

July 28, 2020

Career Quest Learning Centers (OPE ID: 03915300) received education stabilization funds under Section 18004(a)(1) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), Public Law No: 116-136. This Fund Report applies to the student portion received under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund that is designated exclusively for emergency financial aid grants to students.   

The institution appreciates that Congress and the President have made these critical funds available for eligible students who have expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. We take receipt of these federal funds seriously and are distributing them in accordance with the CARES Act and implementing guidance.   

The institution is making the below information available for transparency purposes and in compliance with the U.S. Department of Education’s (“Department”) Electronic Announcement of May 6, 2020.[1] For questions or concerns regarding this Fund Report, please contact James (Jim) D. Hutton, PhD, Chief Executive Officer,at jhutton@careerquest.edu.

  1. The institution signed and returned to the Department the Certification and Agreement [for] Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students. 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 is: $502,643
  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 this Fund Report is $451,600.
  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 under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act, as of the date of this Fund Report is 394.
  5. The total number of students who have received an emergency financial aid grant under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act as of the date of this Fund Report is 342.
  6. The methods 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 are provided at Attachment A.
  7. Any instructions, directions, or guidance provided by the institution to students concerning the emergency financial aid grants are provided at Attachment B.

Attachment A

Methodology

After careful consideration, the institution’s executive management team concluded eligible recipients would include:

  1. Student Status of: ACTIVE and LOA (Leave of Absence).
  2. Students that have a Start date prior to the 4/27/20 start date (with exception to AAS students continuing their education).
    1. *Update – As of 6/19/20 the subsequent grant distributions will include students that began their programs on the 4/27/20 start date, the 6/1/20 start date and meet the other/existing criteria.
  3. Students must be in good standing with SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress).
  4. Students must fill out and return Student Attestation Form.
    1. The Student Attestation Form includes 5 “situations” that may apply to student expenses.
    2. Each “situation” relevant to the individual student is currently being awarded $300 up to a maximum of $1,500.
  5. Students who are in need of additional emergency funds. Any active/eligible student is eligible for additional emergency funds for extreme hardship, not to exceed double the amount awarded in any disbursement, for exceptional COVID-19 related hardships, provided they meet the other considerations outlined above. Students requesting additional emergency funds can contact their Campus President or their Financial Aid Officer for more information.

Attachment B

Any instructions, directions, or guidance provided by the institution to students concerning the emergency financial aid grants include:

  • April 14, 2020 we posted a Moodle announcement on the LMS Homepage requesting students verify/update their contact information
  • April 15, 2020 we posted the ‘Dear Career Quest Student’ announcement (attached) on Moodle, our Website and the CP’s emailed their students.
  • April 28, 2020 we posted the ‘Letter from Jim to Students’ (attached) and the ‘FAQ’ (attached) on Moodle and the CP’s emailed their students.
  • May 1, 2020 we sent the ‘Student Attestation’ (attached) and FAQ to 323 eligible/active students.
  • May 6, 2020 we sent a follow-up text campaign from the respective FAO’s (Theresa, Kathy, Melissa) via TextAim to 124 non-responding students with the verbiage “Your Student Grant Attestation has been sent to your CQ student email. The attestation must be completed ASAP! Call FA with any questions”. The FAO’s then conducted follow-up calls as well.
  • May, 7, 2020 we had each Campus President call 99 non-responding students using the ‘CP Call campaign script’ (attached).
  • May 11, 2020 we mailed the First Round of live checks to 268 student grant recipients based on the ‘Methodology’ criteria described in Attachment A.
  • May 12, 2020 we sent all grant recipients a notification and email, ‘CQ Emergency Grant Dollar Student Notification’ (attached).
  • May 14, 2020 we sent a second round of Student Attestations to 47 non-responding active/eligible students from the May 1 group and 51 New Students from our April 27, 2020 Start.
  • May 15, 2020 we had each Campus President conduct an email/call campaign to 31 April 27, 2020 New Students who had not completed their Student Attestation using the ‘CP Email/Call Campaign to 4/27 New Students’ script (attached).
  • May 19, 2020 we had Career Quest Instructors conduct an email campaign to ALL non-responding students from the May 14, 2020 group of students using the ‘CQ Emergency Grant Instructor Email Campaign’ script (attached).
  • May 21, 2020 we mailed a Second Round of live checks to 316 student grant recipients based on the ‘Methodology’ criteria described in Attachment A.
  • June 19, 2020 we mailed a Third Round of live checks to 300 student grant recipients based on the ‘Methodology’ criteria described in Attachment A.
  • July 31, 2020 we mailed a Fourth Round of live checks to 254 student grant recipients based on the ‘Methodology’ criteria described in Attachment A.

To reference documents sent to students, click on the links provided below:

Document List:

[1] See: https://ifap.ed.gov/electronic-announcements/050620HigherEdEmergencyReliefFundRptg