The University of Guam began its first round of distribution of CARES Act funds to students on May 4. Full distribution through direct deposit or mail is expected to be completed throughout the month of May 2020.

• According to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) only students who are or could be eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), may receive emergency financial aid grants. If a student has filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and received confirmation of a filed and valid FAFSA, then the student has demonstrated eligibility to participate in programs under Section 484 the HEA.
• Students who have filled out a FAFSA will be the first to receive the funds.
• Students who were enrolled full time or part-time at UOG in the Fañomnåkan (Jan. - May) 2020 semester as of March 14, 2020.

NOTE: Students who were enrolled in a fully online degree program or who were taking only online classes since the start of the Fañomnåkan 2020 semester ARE NOT eligible for CARES Act grant funds. The University of Guam offers three fully online graduate degree programs: Master of Education in Reading, Master of Education in TESOL, and the Professional Master of Business Administration.

Additional questions about eligibility can be directed to the Financial Aid Office at finaid@triton.uog.edu.

While the US ED guidance does not require a student to file a FAFSA to be eligible for the funds, we highly recommend that students file a FAFSA for the 2020-21 academic year to avoid delays in the disbursement of the emergency funds as we use alternate means to verify your eligibility. The FAFSA can be found at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

The criteria to participate in programs under Section 484 of the HEA include but are not limited to the following:

• U.S. citizenship or eligible noncitizen (green card holder or a citizen of the Freely Associated States – Chuuk, RMI, Palau);
• a valid Social Security number;
• registration with Selective Service (if the student is male); and
• a high school diploma, GED, or completion of high school in an approved homeschool setting.

NOTE: For those who have not or do not file a FAFSA, additional time will be needed by the UOG to verify your eligibility before releasing your grant funds.

Eligible students can expect between $400-$700 in direct grant aid depending on full time or part time status as defined by the UOG Undergraduate Catalog and Graduate Bulletin.

The funds will be distributed through direct deposit primarily. For students who have not enrolled in direct deposit, their funds will be mailed to them.

If you want to enroll in Direct Deposit and you have access to a bank account, you may download the form below.

https://www.uog.edu/_resources/files/administration/bursar/Direct-Deposit-fillable- .pdf

Please send the completed form along with a voided check or a bank statement to accountspayable@triton.uog.edu.

For students who wish to have their funds mailed to them, It is very important that your address is up to date to prevent undeliverable or returned mail. Download the change of address form to update your contact information below and send it to admitme@triton.uog.edu.

Download the Change of Address form at the link below:
https://www.uog.edu/_resources/files/forms/request-for-change-of-address.pdf

At the moment, we do not have the option for check pick-up.

The language in the CARES Act states that these funds are “…for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the coronavirus (including eligible expenses under a student’s cost of attendance such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care). The guidance is broad and allows students to make that decision on how to spend those funds.

No. These are direct grants from the federal government to eligible students and do not have to be paid back.

At this time, it appears that these grants may be legally exempt from 1098-T reporting and exempt from taxation altogether. Several higher education groups have sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig, urging them to ensure the emergency grant aid allocated to college students during the global coronavirus pandemic is not treated as taxable income.

We await further guidance from both the IRS and the U.S. Department of Education.