JUNE 30, 2022 — UTSA has distributed $6.6 million to support 8,831 students enrolled for summer classes. The funding comes from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), which was set up to provide emergency financial aid grants to students who have faced significant unexpected expenses and are experiencing financial hardships due to the pandemic. This latest round of funding is part of the university’s ongoing support of students and the South Texas region in response to the lasting effects of COVID-19.
“We recognize that UTSA’s role as an urban Hispanic Serving Institution magnifies our potential impact on students and our community,” said Kimberly Andrews Espy, UTSA provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “As we manage the lingering effects of the pandemic, we’re committed to finding ways to support our students and community.”
According to UTSA research on the economic impact of COVID-19 on San Antonio residents, Hispanic families are much more likely than their non-Hispanic white counterparts to experience various pandemic-related hardships—including trouble paying rent or a mortgage, job loss and delaying needed medical services. With nearly 20,000 students—or 57% of its total population—identifying as Hispanic or Latino, UTSA has designated millions of dollars toward emergency financial aid and grants.
Since the program began in 2020, the institution has disbursed over $89 million in HEERF emergency financial aid grants to 35,939 students, who use these funds to help cover education-related expenses such as tuition, books, food, housing, technology, health care and child care.
HEERF was part of the larger Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. UTSA has also used CARES Act funding to provide training and support to the university’s instructors on strategies to effectively teach in online, in-person, or hybrid learning environments. Additionally, the university has invested in improvements to campus resources that help students be successful in and out of the classroom.
Students currently enrolled for the summer semester who have not previously received HEERF assistance can seek emergency financial aid grants by completing a HEERF aid application form. Applications are currently being reviewed for the summer 2022 semester.
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Aula Canaria (BVB 1.328,) Buena Vista Street Building, Downtown CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
