Skip to main content

Date for HEERF Grant Expenditures Extended

Congress did not specify a performance period for HEERF 1,11, or 111 (CARES, CRRSAA, and ARP). U.S. Department of Education (ED) made the decision that institutions must expend their HEERF grant funds within one year from the date when ED processed the most recent obligation of funds for each specific grant, but in reality, then gave institutions one year from the date of the most recent award to expend all of the funds awarded to date.

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 64 / Monday, April 4, 2022 / Notices was published extending the deadline for expending the HEERF Grants with balances of $1,000 or more until June 30, 2023. If the school misses the June 30 deadline, any remaining unliquidated grant funds will need to be returned to the U.S. Treasury.

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 83 / Monday, May 1, 2023 / Notices asks for an additional emergency one year extension for schools that cannot meet the June 30, 2023 deadline. The No-Cost Extension (NCE) Request is for schools that have not spent their Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) and will attempt to reduce burden on grantees by requesting much of the same information that grantees report on in their HEERF annual performance reports. To actually request the extension, the schools will have to be able to show that any remaining HEERF grant funds expended during this additional period will not be used. The NCE form was reviewed by OMB and ED has requested comments on the form by June 30, 2023. To view go to HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form – OMB, but at this time it should not be used.

ED believes that providing a streamlined process for NCE requests will speed the process of reviewing and approving NCE requests and help ensure grantees are able to spend down their funds in a reasonable timeframe while meeting the needs of their students and institutions.

(GENERAL-22-24) Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) Annual Reporting Due May 6th

GEN 22-24 electronic notification reminds institutions of the annual HEERF reporting requirement. The APR (Annual Performance Report) covers activities funded between January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 and are in addition to requirements to publicly post HEERF quarterly reports. All annual reporting must be submitted through the data collection portal: https://covid-relief-data.ed.gov/authentication/login. Institutions that don’t submit the report by the May 6th deadline will lose access to HEERF grant funds as a result of the institution’s noncompliance with its reporting requirements as specified by their HEERF Certification and Agreement or Supplemental Agreement. The Department is unable to grant or support extension requests for annual reporting.
For information and assistance with HEERF annual reporting, please visit the HEERF Grantee Support page: https://covid-relief-data.ed.gov/grantee-help/heerf or contact the reporting help desk at HEERF.AnnualReport@ed.gov.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]