The Department of Education (the
Department) is requesting an emergency clearance to allow for
immediate outreach to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to
meet the requirements of the CARES Act. Section 18004(a)(2) of the
CARES Act authorizes the Secretary to make additional awards under
parts A and B of title III, parts A and B of title V, and subpart 4
of part A of title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended (“HEA”), to address needs directly related to the
coronavirus. These awards are in addition to awards made in Section
18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act and have been allocated by the
Secretary proportionally to such programs based on the relative
share of funding appropriated to such programs in the Further
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94). Section
18004(a)(3) of the CARES Act authorizes the Secretary to allocate
funds for part B of Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965,
as amended (“HEA”), for institutions of higher education that the
Secretary determines have the greatest unmet needs related to
coronavirus. Pursuant to Section 18004(d)(1) of the CARES Act, the
Secretary gave priority to any institution of higher education that
is not otherwise eligible for funding under Sections 18004(a)(1)
and 18004(a)(2) of the CARES Act of at least $500,000 and
demonstrates significant unmet needs related to expenses associated
with coronavirus. These certifications are separate from those that
have already been cleared under previous emergency clearance
requests related to CARES Act funding for emergency grants to
students and institutional aid (1801-0005 and 1840-0842,
respectively).
ED is requesting an
emergency clearance to provide emergency support to institutions of
higher education (IHEs) and carry out the requirements of the CARES
Act. The two certifications for which ED is requesting approval
will be used by IHEs to request aid under Sections 18004(a)(2) and
18004(a)(3). If this emergency collection is not approved, the
Department will be unable to make these funds available to IHEs in
a timely manner. These funds are particularly needed by IHEs that
have experienced the greatest economic and educational disruptions
caused by 2019-nCoV in order to support their recovery and the
resumption of educational operations.
The Department made initial
allocations under section 18004(a)(2) of the CARES Act to
institutions eligible for specific grant programs under titles III,
V, and VII of the HEA. An initial round of funding was allocated to
main institutions at the 6-digit OPEID level and each main
institution is expected to distribute funds to their branch
campuses. However, the Department recognizes that a branch campus
can apply for designation as an eligible applicant—independent of
their main institution—for programs under titles III and V of the
HEA. As such, the Department has reserved 2 percent of funding for
specific groups of institutions identified under titles III and V
to make additional awards to eligible branch campuses (based on the
FY 2020 designation process) whose main institutions did not
receive an allocation under section 18004(a)(2). We estimate that
to review the certification and agreement, complete the appropriate
information, and obtain the correct signature will require an
estimated .5 hours (30 minutes). Additionally, we estimate that to
provide the necessary additional information regarding enrollment
data and Pell recipients will require an additional estimated .5
hours (30 minutes) for a total of 1 hour of burden for each
respondent. While this request adds to the numbers of respondents
and hours in order to include responses from branch campuses, it
also reduces the total number of annual responses to correct the
estimate provided in the original request. Thus, there is both a
program change and an adjustment.
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Gaby Watts 202 502-7545
gaby.watts@ed.gov
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
1840-0843 change sheet (branch campuses) signed.pdf
Cover Letter HEERF MSI Portion 18004(a)(2) and 18004(a)(3) - ED 04.29 Clean.docx
CARES Act, Recipient's Funding Certification and Agreements SIP+MSI+FIPSE