Resources for Students and Influencers Impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic:
Emergency Broadband Benefit
The Emergency Broadband Benefit provides a discount of up to $50 per month towards broadband service for eligible households including Pell grant recipients. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price. Additional information for this resource can be found on the FCC website.
Who Is Eligible for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program?
A household is eligible if a member of the household meets one of the criteria below:
- Has an income that is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, or Lifeline;
- Approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision in the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year;
- Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
- Experienced a substantial loss of income due to job loss or furlough since February 29, 2020 and the household had a total income in 2020 at or below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers; or
- Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider's existing low-income or COVID-19 program.
Temporary Expansion of SNAP (Food stamp program)
On December 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 was signed into law, which provides for a temporary 15 percent increase in SNAP benefits from January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021. This increase will be reflected in SNAP households' regular SNAP issuance beginning in February 2021. College students who are eligible for a state or federal work study program, regardless of whether they are actually participating, or students who have an estimated family contribution of $0 on their federal student aid determination are now eligible for SNAP. Parents’ incomes are still factored into determining if college students qualify for SNAP for those under the age of 22 for students who live at home with their parents.
PA Residents can learn more on the PA.gov website
Special Circumstance Review of the 2021-2022 FAFSA
The 2021-2022 FAFSA for fall 2021 and spring 2022 aid requires the 2019 tax return. If families have seen a significant reduction in household income or an increase in relative expenses such as out-of-pocket medical costs, since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, they can request a special circumstance review of their FAFSA.
Additional Information on special circumstances can be found on the Financial Aid Special Situations page.
To initiate this process, please send a summary of the change in circumstances to finaid@wcupa.edu to initiate this review.