About 1,500 UNLV students have less than a week remaining to accept awards of up to $1,000 provided under a federal coronavirus relief program.
The deadline is July 15 for qualifying students to accept their awards, according to UNLV spokesman Tony Allen.
Students had to apply in May for the assistance, which is being provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Emails were sent via MyUNLV, the university’s communications platform, to students who qualified with instructions on how to accept the grant funds.
Congress provided $14 billion in the CARES Act for U.S. colleges and universities to assist students whose learning this spring was disrupted by the pandemic. UNLV’s share was $11.3 million.
The cumulative amount of unaccepted grants at UNLV totals about $1 million, Allen said.
There are no rules or restrictions on how students spend their award, which does not have to be repaid.
“There’s a lot of needs out there, but every little bit helps and that’s something I’m sure, and hope, makes a difference for some students,” Allen said.
Students already receiving money for the 2019-20 school year through Free Application for Federal Student Aid weren’t required to apply for emergency relief funding. The maximum $1,000 grant was given to those students, which accounted for 70% or slightly more than $8 million of the monies UNLV dispersed.
All UNLV students enrolled in spring 2020 classes, regardless of whether they requested the grant, are encouraged to log onto their MyUNLV account, click the Financial Aid tile, change the award year in the dropdown menu to 2019-2020, and choose to accept or decline the award if applicable.
“Classes and books don’t get less expensive because there’s a pandemic,” said UNLV junior Max Reese, who received $1,000.