On October 9, 2020, the Department of Education (the “Department”) posted an Electronic Announcement announcing the rescission of and replacement for the 2016 Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting. Through this announcement, the Department is rescinding the guidance in the 2016 Handbook and replacing it with a Clery Act Appendix to the Federal Student Aid (“FSA”) Handbook. The electronic announcement identifies and explains the significant changes between the 2016 edition and the new Clery-related Appendix. The Department anticipates that this rescission and publication of the new Appendix will help simplify Clery compliance. Continue reading “Department of Education releases new Clery Act Appendix; Rescinds 2016 Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting”
U.S. Department of Education Extends Clery Act Annual Security Reporting to December 31
In a welcome bit of regulatory relief at time when institutions of higher education are working to comply with a new Title IX rule by August 14, 2020, the Department announced on July 10 that it is extending the date for institutions to distribute their Annual Security Report (ASR) and Annual Fire Safety Report (AFSR) to required recipients to December 31, 2020 (from October 1). The Department does encourage institutions to distribute their reports on the normal schedule if possible.
In addition, the electronic annual crime and fire statistics survey will now be open now from November 18, 2020 through January 14, 2021 for transmission of data to the Department.
The Department states in its July 10 announcement that it “encourages schools to take appropriate steps to ensure the health and safety of their students and employees, to continue to act in accordance with their campus safety policies and procedures, and to advise the campus community about changing conditions that may affect their safety or any major changes to safety policies or practices.” Institutions continuing or returning to partial or full on ground operations should keep in mind that they are still obligated to comply with their published campus safety policies and procedures, including with regard to emergency notifications and crime statistics collection and reporting. Any changes to published procedures should be communicated to the campus community.
https://ifap.ed.gov/electronic-announcements/040320UPDATEDGuidanceInterruptStudyRelCOVID19
U.S. Department of Education Makes Available CARES Act Funds for Institutions of Higher Education
On April 21, 2020, the Department made available the institutional portion of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) under Section 18004(a)(1) and 18004(c) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
By statute, the institutional HEERF funds are to be used to cover any costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus so long as such costs do not include payment to contractors for the provision of pre-enrollment recruitment activities, including marketing and advertising; endowments; or capital outlays associated with facilities related to athletics, sectarian instruction, or religious worship.
Through an associated FAQ, the Department has provided further guidance and limitations on use of the institutional HEERF funds:
- An institution must enter into the Funding Certification and Agreement with the U.S. Department of Education to receive and distribute Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students in order to be eligible to receive the institutional HEERF portion of the funds. In other words, institutions cannot select only to receive the institutional, but not student, portion of the HEERF funds provided by Congress.
- Institutions that have provided refunds to students for room and board, tuition, and other fees (such as activities fees) may use the institutional HEERF funds to reimburse themselves, so long as the institution can demonstrate that such costs were incurred as a result of significant changes to the delivery of instruction, including interruptions in instruction, due to coronavirus. Institutions will need to be able to document how those reimbursements are related to the COVID-19 interruption.
- Institutions may reimburse themselves for refunds previously made to students on or after March 13, 2020, but only if they can demonstrate that such refunds were necessitated by significant changes to the delivery of instruction, including interruptions in instruction, due to coronavirus.
- Institutions may use institutional HEERF funds for costs incurred by the institution to purchase laptops, hotspots, or other IT equipment and software necessary to enable students to participate in distance learning as a result of the coronavirus interruption.
- Institutions that purchased computers or other equipment to donate or provide to students on or after March 13, 2020 may reimburse themselves for those costs, again if tied to need arising from the coronavirus interruption.
- The institutional HEERF funds can be used to make additional emergency financial aid grants to students (to supplement the student HEERF funds), provided that such grants are for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus (including eligible expenses under a student’s cost of attendance, such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care). Only students who are or could be eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), may receive emergency financial aid grants.
- At institutions that provide both online and ground-based education, students who were enrolled exclusively in online programs on March 13, 2020 are not eligible for emergency financial aid grants, as the Department’s position is that students who were enrolled exclusively in online programs would not have expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus. Fully 100% online institutions were already ineligible for HEERF funding.
- Institutional HEERF funds may be used to award scholarships or to provide payment for future academic terms only if the institution can demonstrate that such grants are needed for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus. If provided to students in the form of emergency financial aid, such uses are allowable.
- Institutional HEERF funds can be used to pay a per-student fee to a third-party service provider, including an Online Program Manager (OPM), for each additional student using the distance learning platform, learning management system, online resources, or other support services; however, institutions may not use institutional HEERF funds to pay third-party recruiters or OPMs for recruiting or enrolling new students at the institution.
- The Funding and Certification Agreement that institutions must sign also makes clear that institutional HEERF funds cannot be used for: senior administrator and/or executive salaries, benefits, bonuses, contracts, incentives; stock buybacks, shareholder dividends, capital distributions, and stock options; and any other cash or other benefit for a senior administrator or executive.
More information on CARES Act grant resources and guidance can be found on the Office of Postsecondary Education’s webpage: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/caresact.html
Clery Act Compliance: October 1 Deadline for Colleges and Universities to Complete and Distribute Annual Security Report Is Fast Approaching
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f) (34 C.F.R. § 668.46), requires all schools, colleges and universities that participate in federal student financial aid programs to:
- Maintain and disclose to the public statistics, policies and programs about certain crimes occurring on and/or near a campus; and
- Have in place and be able to demonstrate implementation of specific campus safety policies, including those related to crimes of sexual violence.
Educational institutions must provide and distribute this information in a Clery Act Annual Security Report (ASR) by October 1, 2019. The U.S. Department of Education guidance specifies that this is a firm deadline; there is no grace period and no exemptions exist.