Updated: February 21, 2023

Dallas Theological Seminary signed and returned to the Department of Education the Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under the CARES Act on April 22, 2020 with additional submissions on May 20, 2020. The Seminary intends to use no less than 50 percent of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide emergency financial aid grants to students. 

HEERF I:

  • The total amount of funds that Dallas Theological Seminary will receive or has received from the Department pursuant to Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act Certification and Agreement [for] Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students: $307,145. The total amount received pursuant to FISPE Section 18004(a)(3) is $193,255.
  • 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 submission: $285,617.20. The total amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students under Section 18004(a)3 as of date of submission: $144,455. The total for purchasing additional equipment to enable distant learning under the Institutional Portion of Section 18004(a)(1): $21,127.80.
  • The total amount expended pursuant to FISPE Section 18004(a)(3) for replacement of non-tuition sources, i.e., cancelled events, is $48,800.00.
  • The estimated total number of students at Dallas Theological Seminary eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act: 1,384. 
  • The total number of students who have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act: 144.  

Method(s) 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: 

Dallas Theological Seminary created a Ninja Forms based application that required students to identify the amount of funding requested and a detailed rationale for their request. This application was only available to students under their OneLogin credentials. Student eligibility was determined on the basis of need and the intended usage of the funds. Approved students were awarded the amount that they requested up to a limit (in most cases) of $2,500. 

Instructions, directions, or guidance provided by the institution to students concerning the Emergency Financial Aid Grants: 

On April 13, 2020, all currently enrolled seminary students were sent the following instructions via email: 

Dear student, 

DTS has received additional aid money from both donors and from the US Department of Education. 

If you are in need of aid to help with issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, you can fill out an emergency aid request below. We hope to be able to disperse the funds as soon as they become available. 

Emergency Aid Request 

If there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know.  

Warmly, 
Cody Jacobs 
Director of Financial Aid 
Dallas Theological Seminary 

On April 23, 2020, all students who had applied for emergency aid (to that point in time) were sent the following instructions via email: 

Dear student, 

This is a brief update on your Emergency Aid Request. 

It has taken a bit longer to receive the funding from the Department of Education than we initially anticipated, but we now have everything in place to begin to distributing funds to eligible students. We hope you will receive aid funding in the mail early next week. 

Thank you for your patience! And let us praise God for working through the generosity of our donors and the provision of our government. 

Warmly, 

Cody Jacobs 
Director of Financial Aid 
Dallas Theological Seminary 

On May 8, all students who were approved for an emergency grant were sent the following instructions via email: 

Dear student, 

Applications submitted by April 27th for Emergency Aid have been reviewed and approved.  

The Business Office is currently processing check requests and direct deposits. 

If you have direct deposit set up with the Business Office, you should see your funds available within 1-2 business days. If you do not have direct deposit set up, then your check was put in the mail sent to the address you listed on your application.  

If you submitted your application after April 27th, your application will be reviewed within the next two weeks. 

We also received notification from the Department of Education that Emergency Aid from the CARES Act will not be considered taxable income. 

If there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know. 

Warmly, 
 
Cody Jacobs 
Director of Financial Aid 
Dallas Theological Seminary 

HEERF II & III

On December 27, 2020, the President signed the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA) which gave the U.S. Department of Education funds to distribute to institutions of higher education in order to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus through the HEERF. For existing private nonprofit and public CARES Act grantees, the CRRSAA authorized supplemental awards to existing Student Aid Portion and Institutional Portion grantees. These institutions were not required to submit new or revised applications to receive these new funds. In January 2021, Dallas Theological Seminary was allocated in total $523,837 (HEERF II). $153,373 was the minimum amount to be awarded for Student Aid. Congress did make changes to the program from the CARES Act which are referenced here. Under CRRSAA, students enrolled in exclusively distance education courses are now eligible for financial aid grants. CRRSAA requires that institutions prioritize students with exceptional need and are to document how they prioritize in distributing funds. With a student’s written consent (or electronic) financial aid grants could be applied to their student accounts. Only students who are or could be eligible to receive Title IV funds (students complete the FAFSA to demonstrate eligibility) may receive emergency financial aid grants. A new application called “CARES/HEERF-Pandemic Aid” was created and placed on the student portal for students to submit on 1/25/21. 

On March 11, 2021 the American Rescue Plan’s (ARP) Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III (HEERF III) was signed into law providing $39.6 billion in support to institutions of higher education to serve students and ensure learning continues during the COVID-19 pandemic. ARP funds are in addition to funds authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Emergency funds available to institutions and their students under all emergency funds total $76.2 billion.  Dallas Theological Seminary was allocated in total $1,028,731 (HEERF III). $514,366 was the minimum amount to be awarded for Student Aid.  The ARP requires that institutions prioritize students with exceptional need or extraordinary financial circumstances and are expected to establish a transparent process for assessing need.  The Department’s final rule on student eligibility for HEERF states that all students who are or were enrolled in an institution of higher education during the COVID-19 national emergency are eligible for emergency financial aid grants, regardless of whether they completed a FAFSA or are eligible for Title IV.  A new application called “CARES/HEERF-Pandemic Aid” was created and placed on the student portal for students to submit on 7/27/21. Students were notified of the new application.

HEERF II and III Student Count and Expenditure reporting:

Total number of students eligible to receive HEERF II funds:      3141
Total number of students who received HEERF II fund:                155

Total number of students eligible to receive HEERF III funds: 3561
Total number of students who received HEERF III fund:               414

Copy of HEERF II and III Expenditure Table 2.21.23
  • HEERF II and III Quarterly Budget & Expenditure reporting:

Education Stabilization Funds (ESF) Public Transparency Portal:

The U.S. Department of Education is committed to providing the public with a transparent view into how ESF funds are spent.  The ESF Transparency Portal provides that view by tracking, collecting, and disseminating ESF data.

The ESF is an investment of over $263 billion into state and institutional COVID-19 recovery and rebuilding efforts, managed by the U.S. Department of Education to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus impacts on education for our nation’s students. The ESF was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) in March 2020, with subsequent allocations to the Fund codified through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA Act), signed into law in December 2020, and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP Act), signed into law in March 2021. The ESF is composed of four primary emergency relief funds: (1) the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, (2) the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund, (3) the Emergency Assistance to non-Public Schools (EANS) Fund, and (4) the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund.

Dallas Theological Seminary ESF Public Portal Page