Published: May 11, 2020

CU Boulder has received more than $9.3 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act stimulus funding that the campus has set aside for emergency grants for students facing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19.

Depending on their unique circumstances, degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate students who are currently enrolled may be eligible for these emergency grants.

How to apply

To determine if you qualify for an emergency grant related to COVID-19 expenses, submit your application through the Division of Student Affairs’ Student Emergency Fund site.

For more information about federal emergency funding, please visit the campus’s main Coronavirus Updates and Resources page or the Office of Financial Aid’s COVID-19 site.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or qualified noncitizens to apply and must be in good academic standing, said Financial Aid Director Ofelia Morales.

While some students may not qualify for the federal stimulus dollars, Morales nonetheless encourages all students facing financial difficulties due to the pandemic to submit an application to see if they qualify for other types of grant funding. Grants range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on the applicant’s circumstances.

“These federal funds are being made available right now to help our students weather these difficult times,” she said.

Students who qualify for the CARES Act grants may use the funds to pay for food, housing, course materials, coronavirus-related medical expenses, child care and other educational expenses. The grants must be paid to students directly, and the institution may not apply the funds to students’ tuition bills, according to the federal legislation.

In total, CU Boulder is expected to receive more than $18.7 million in Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund stimulus dollars through the federal CARES Act to support the university’s ongoing academic and research missions during the pandemic.

The campus is awaiting further guidance from the U.S. Department of Education on when and how it will receive the remaining stimulus funding, but university administrators expect it will be available to cover institutional costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus.