COVID-19 has caused many students to face both acute and significant financial hardships. Many students have been asking if they could be refunded their student fees for the semester. Although Morales said this is not possible, USU is working to help students.
USU Vice President for Student Affairs James Morales said they created a COVID-19 Emergency Resources Hardship Fund to help these students.
“There's an application that's available through a link on the My USU portal or on the Student Affairs website," said Morales. "Simply look for the tab that says emergency hardship resources fund COVID-19. hard to find, and a student can apply and be considered for support. And they can use that support, whether it be financial, or if they're here locally, a dining card to be able to access meals here on campus, or if they're struggling to access their technology needs to complete their classes.”
The hardship fund was funded through donations from generous Aggies that are concerned about the struggles students are facing.
Morales said, “we know that in the end that students are struggling in a variety of ways and we know that paying fees is a significant expense for them. What we've done to be able to provide these resources to our students In a remote world, is evidence of our understanding of those challenges and our commitment to be able to deliver these services to them and show that we care deeply about their needs during this crisis.”
Applications are temporarily paused to process the applications currently in the system but the fund will be accepting applications again soon.