Student Emergency Fund

Student Emergency Fund grants are designed to assist students facing an emergency event that may otherwise result in those students leaving school. The fund cannot help students with chronic financial issues or students who lack an emergency event as described herein.

All applications are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and will require supporting documentation as detailed below. Students may only receive one Student Emergency Fund grant per academic year. Applicants who have received a grant in previous academic years are scrutinized more closely for subsequent applications.

Grants cannot be used to pay for any of the following:

• Tuition and/or fees
• Laptops and/or computers
• Credit card bills
• Cable television and/or pay channels
• Luxury items, including rents in excess of customary
• Expenses that support a student’s family residence, including rent or mortgage payments at a permanent address if the student does not live there while in school
• Gaps between a student’s financial aid award and their Student Aid Index (SAI), as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• Expenses that don’t directly support the student’s education
• Auto expenses that are unrelated to travel for the student's education

Note: This is not an exhaustive list.

Applicants are asked to identify a dollar amount when describing various needs, such as food, housing, transportation, etc. The maximum grant amount is $2,000 — although the maximum is only granted in rare circumstances. Applications that request funds above $2,000 will be denied.

Applicants must have at least a 2.0 GPA and must be registered for 6 credits minimum.

All applicants must submit documentation supporting their requests, such as:

• Documentation of the Emergency Event: Applicants must provide documentation of the emergency that caused their financial shortfall. Examples include a police report, layoff notice, obituary, etc. Applications lacking this documentation will not be considered.
• Actual Bills: Applicants who are requesting funds to cover bills (such as utility bills) must submit PDFs or screenshots of the actual bills. Screenshots of payment portals will not be accepted. Applications lacking bills will not be considered.
• Signed Leases: Applicants who are requesting funds to cover rent must include a PDF or screenshot of their signed lease. This lease must include the name of the landlord, the names of all the tenants living there and the rental property address. Please also confirm who a rent check should be addressed to and where it should be mailed. The Student Emergency Fund can only make payments in checks, and cannot use a credit card or a bank transfer.
• Actual Estimates: Applicants who are requesting funds for repair work must include PDFs or screenshots of actual estimates from the service provider on their letterhead showing name and address.

All applicants (except international students) must have a completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) filed for this academic year before they submit their Student Emergency Fund application and must demonstrate financial need.

Students who have access to federal student loans will be asked to first use those funds to resolve their emergency.

Visit the Financial Aid website for additional information on FAFSA and student loans.