Wright State distributes nearly $6.8 million in federal funds to help eligible students during pandemic

Wright State University is assisting students impacted by the coronavirus pandemic by distributing another round of mass federal grants.

This week, Wright State issued a total of $6,775,175 in mass emergency relief grants directly to 5,258 students who are enrolled in classes for the Fall Semester.

The federal funds are available to help students with emergency expenses related to the coronavirus pandemic, including tuition, food, housing, course materials, technology, health care and childcare.

“We believe these funds will provide some financial relief to a broad range of our students who have experienced hardship as a result of COVID-19,” said Kim Everhart, director of financial aid.

The funds were provided through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) III as part of the American Rescue Plan, which President Biden signed into law in March. HEERF III provides funds to institutions to award emergency financial aid grants to students, many of whom continue to face financial challenges because of the pandemic. Under the American Rescue Plan, Wright State students who are eligible for funds include degree- and non-degree-seeking students, DACA students, refugees, asylum seekers and international students.

During this latest round of funding, Wright State distributed grants to undergraduate and graduate students and Boonshoft School of Medicine and School of Professional Psychology students.

The university allocated funds based on each student’s FAFSA, prioritizing students with the greatest financial needs, and credit hours during the Fall Semester. Students can view their grant awards on their student accounts. Wright State automatically awarded the funds to eligible students.

The university will also provide emergency grants to students who did not file a FAFSA. Those students may apply for emergency grants of up to $500 by completing an online application.

More information is available on Wright State’s COVID-19 emergency financial aid website.

Wright State received a total of $14,508,548 from HEERF III to provide direct relief to students. The first distribution of HEERF III funds took place in the summer when the university distributed $914,150 in grants to 1,924 students. The university will distribute the remaining $6.8 million in HEERF III funds to students throughout the 2021–22 academic year.

This is the third round of federal funding Wright State has received to help with costs associated with the pandemic. In 2020 and the spring of 2021, the university directly distributed $10 million in federal funds to students affected by the pandemic.

As part of the American Rescue Plan, Wright State received an additional $14.2 million in federal funding to defray university expenses associate with the coronavirus.