Administration

Application now open for spring 2022 American Rescue Plan student grants

Approximately $2.75M available to students via second-round application process

Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn StateCreative Commons

Editor's note: As of March 16, all funds for American Rescue Plan student emergency grants have been exhausted and the spring 2022 grant application has closed. 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State students in need of financial assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic can now apply for a spring 2022 American Rescue Plan (ARP) student emergency grant from the University’s Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) III allocation. 

Authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Penn State’s HEERF III allocation included $76.2 million specifically for student emergency financial aid grants. As announced on Feb. 21, Penn State is awarding the final $17.35 million of these funds during the spring 2022 semester through two rounds of funding. In the first round, which ended on March 14, Penn State offered grants worth up to $850 each to all 18,247 students University-wide who are eligible for the federal Pell Grant, as determined by data from the 2021-22 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

All remaining ARP funds following the first round — approximately $2.75 million — will now be awarded to students during the second-round application process.

The second-round awards, also worth up to $850 each, will support students with exceptional financial need who did not file or were not eligible to file a FAFSA, or who did not otherwise qualify for a grant in the initial round. The funds can be used to cover any component of a student’s cost of attendance or for emergency costs due to COVID-19, including tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care), or child care, provided that the expense was incurred on or after the start of the national COVID-19 emergency on March 13, 2020.

Students in need can apply for a grant online now through the Office of Student Aid. Submission of an application serves as affirmation that a student will use the grant for eligible expenses in accordance with the requirements of the American Rescue Plan.

Undergraduate, graduate, law and medical students at any Penn State campus, including World Campus students, can apply. Under U.S. Department of Education guidelines, all students, regardless of citizenship status, can apply for and are eligible to receive these federal funds. 

Funding will be available on a first-come, first-served basis until all remaining ARP funds have been exhausted. To help as many students as possible, priority for grant application requests will be given to those students who have not already received a spring 2022 American Rescue Plan grant. Students who are awarded funding will be notified via their Penn State email account, and all ARP second-round awards will be refunded directly to the student. Students are encouraged to enroll in eRefund to receive the funds by direct deposit.

Penn State previously distributed ARP grants totaling more than $58.85 million to 36,126 students during the summer and fall 2021 semesters. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the University also has awarded $27.5 million in Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) grants in spring 2021 (HEERF II) and $27.5 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act grants in 2020 (HEERF I).  

For more information about spring 2022 American Rescue Plan student emergency grants and to apply for aid, visit the online application. Answers to frequently asked questions about the grants can be found on Penn State’s official coronavirus information website.

Last Updated March 16, 2022