Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Report

August 31, 2020

Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students
45 Day Funding Report – Distribution as of August 31, 2020

Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) received education stabilization funds designated exclusively for emergency financial aid grants to students. Pursuant to guidance issued by the Department of Education through an Electronic Announcement published on May 6, 2020, we are providing the following information about the funds we have received, and how, and to whom, we have distributed them.

1. On April 28, 2020, the institution signed and returned to the Department the Recipient’s Funding Certification and Agreement (for) Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students required to receive funds allocated under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act. The institution intends to use no less than 50 percent of the total funds received to provide emergency financial aid grants to students.


2. The total amount of funds that the institution has received from the Department pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement specifically for emergency financial aid grants to students is $965,865.


3. The total amount of emergency financial aid grants distributed to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act as of the date of this Fund Report is $965,865.


4. The estimated total number of students at the institution eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, and thus potentially qualified to receive emergency financial aid grants under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act, as of the date of this Fund Report is 1533.


5. The total number of students who have received an emergency financial aid grant under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act as of the date of this Fund Report is 312.


6. The methods we used to determine which students receive emergency financial aid grants and how much they would receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act: All students who were determined to be potentially qualified to receive emergency financial aid grants were contacted and requested to complete an application. Each application was evaluated, and students who were determined to be eligible for the grant were awarded the lesser of their indicated expenses (calculated for a five-month period), their requested grant amount or the institution’s maximum award amount.


7. The guidance we provided to students concerning the emergency financial aid grants included examples of qualifying expenses, as well as indicating that only U.S. Citizens or Eligible non-Citizens would be eligible for CARES Act funding. Each student who submitted an application also certified that the information they provided was complete and accurate, that they understood they may not receive the full amount of their request, and that any funds they receive are to be used for expenses they incurred related to the pandemic.