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Department of Education Seeks No-Cost Extension for HEERF Funds

5/04/2023

On May 1, the Department of Education requested that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) conduct an emergency review of a form for HEERF grantees to request a No-Cost Extension (NCE), which would allow them to spend their remaining HEERF balances for up to 12 months beyond June 30, 2023.

The proposed form requires that grantees have a plan for using their remaining HEERF funds to address the lingering effects and impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the fact that ED awaits OMB clearance, ED encourages institutions desiring an extension to submit the proposed NCE to the institution’s assigned HEERF program specialist (identified in Box 3 of the HEERF grant award notification) by June 20.

For institutions requesting an NCE for institutional funds—

  1. A brief description of your institution’s reason for requesting the NCE;
  2. A budget narrative and timeline describing how the institution plans to spend the remaining balance of your HEERF grant(s); and
  3. An explanation of how the grant activities and proposed expenditures described in (2) connect to preparing for, preventing, and responding to COVID-19.

For institutions requesting an NCE for student grant funds—

  1. An explanation of the barrier(s) that prevented the institution from expending the emergency student funds during the initial grant performance period;
  2. A timeline for when your institution intends to distribute the remaining grant funds to students;
  3. How those grant amounts will be calculated;
  4. How the institution plans to prioritize grants to students with exceptional need; and
  5. How the institution plans to communicate the availability of emergency financial aid grants to students.

ED also is accepting public comments on the proposed NCE form through June 30. Comments should be submitted online through the Federal eRulemaking Portal by selecting the Docket ID number, or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery.

Related information is available from ED.

Contact

Chris Leach

Accounting Policy Analyst

202.861.2566

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