Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) State Grant

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) recently received $57 million through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund to support the TEXAS Grant, Texas Educational Opportunity Grant, and Tuition Equalization Grant programs and $46.5 million in GEER Funds to support Emergency Educational Grants.

 

Emergency Educational Grant: The purpose of the Emergency Educational Grant is to provide financial relief to victims of the pandemic emergency through federally-funded educational grants that keep Texans on track to attaining high-value educational credentials.

 

Eligible Institutions: Any public institution of higher education as defined by Texas Education Code, § 61.003(8), is eligible to receive an emergency grant award.

 

 

• No institution may, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, or disability exclude an individual from participation in, or deny the benefits of, the funding.  
• Each participating institution must follow the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI (Public Law 88-353) in avoiding discrimination in admissions or employment.  
• Each participating institution is required to provide Emergency Educational Grant recipients with documentation explaining:   
• Emergency Educational Grants are provided through the Governor's Emergency Educational Relief Fund, a federally-funded program;   
• Emergency Educational Grants are a form of financial relief to victims of the pandemic emergency; and   
• Details which make clear the grant is for a single semester, copies of which must be retained by the institution in accordance with TAC § 22.4.  

 

 

Eligible Students: To be eligible to receive an Emergency Educational Grant from an institution, a student shall:

 

 

1. Title IV eligible students that received an email must complete the GEER application by clicking on the following link: https://forms.laredo.edu/forms/geer/   
2. Be a Texas resident as defined by Board rules;  
3. U.S. Citizen or an eligible non-citizen (including a U.S. National or Permanent Resident)  
4. Have filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the 2020-2021 academic year  
5. Complete verification, if selected  
6. Must meet the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (2.0 GPA and 67% completion rate)  
7. Be eligible for Title IV federal student financial aid;   
8. Show financial need, as defined by Board rules;   
9. Have suffered a financial impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic as determined by the institution:  
10. Be enrolled in coursework leading to an associate or baccalaureate degree or undergraduate certificate program at an eligible institution; and  
11. Have either:
    • Graduated from high school between September 1, 2019 and August 31, 2020; or   
    • Have been enrolled in coursework at an eligible institution during the 2019-2020 academic year.  
     

     

 

Funding Disbursements: Each institution must ensure that:

 

 

1. No grant exceeds the least of:  1.  $2,500; 
2. The student's financial need minus all gift aid, as defined by Board rules, the student has been offered at the time the Emergency Educational Grant is offered; or
3. The sum of the student's tuition, fees, and supplemental expenses minus all gift aid the student has been offered at the time the Program grant is offered. Supplemental expenses are defined as an estimate of course materials determined by the institution that is not to exceed $500.

 

 

Each institution must certify that:

 

 

1. Emergency Educational Grant funding may not be used for any purpose other than paying for tuition, fees, and supplemental expenses incurred by the student related to enrollment at an eligible institution for the semester for which funding was offered. 
2. Emergency Educational Grant funding must supplement, and not replace, gift aid received by the student for educational expenses.

 

 

The Emergency Educational Grant is a “last-dollar” scholarship, which may not exceed $2,500. The grant has an additional limitation that it may not exceed remaining financial need.

 

 The last-dollar amount is calculated as follows:

 

• Add together the student's tuition, fees, and supplemental expenses for the fall semester. Supplemental expenses are defined as an estimate of course materials determined by the institution that is not to exceed $500.
• Add together all gift aid the student has been offered at the time the Emergency Educational Grant is offered. Gift aid is defined as grants, scholarships, exemptions, waivers, and other financial aid provided to a student without a requirement to repay the funding or earn the funding through work.
• Subtract the total gift aid from the total tuition, fees, and supplemental expenses.
• If the result is greater than $2,500, reduce the calculated value to $2,500.

 

 

The remaining financial need is calculated as follows:

 

• Subtract the student’s Excepted Family Contribution from the student’s Cost of Attendance to determine the student’s financial need.
• Subtract the student’s total gift aid from the student’s financial need. Gift aid is defined as grants, scholarships, exemptions, waivers, and other financial aid provided to a student without a requirement to repay the funding or earn the funding through work.
• If the result is greater than $2,500, reduce the calculated value to $2,500.
• A student’s eligibility is the lesser of the last-dollar calculation or the remaining financial need calculation.

 

 

Examples

 

	Student #1	Student #2	Student #3
(a) Cost of Attendance	$8,500	$16,000	$9,500
(b) Expected Family Contribution	$1,000	$9,000	$5,000
(c) Financial Need (a minus b)	$7,500	$7,000	$4,500
(d) Tuition, Fees, and Supplemental Expenses	$2,000	$8,000	$4,000
(e) Gift Aid	$2,500	$5,000	$1,000
Last-Dollar Calculation   (d minus e, not to exceed $2,500)	$0	$2,500	$2,500
Remaining Financial Need Calculation (c minus e, not to exceed $2,500)	$2,500	$2,000	$2,500
Maximum Eligibility (lesser of Last-Dollar or Remaining Financial Need)	$0	$2,000	$2,500