BYU students starting to receive COVID relief funds

Money from BYU’s COVID relief funds started being disbursed to students Thursday morning, two months after applications for the funds closed.

BYU started sending out YMessages to students this morning with the amount they received after BYU conducted “a careful review.” The notification included a list of frequently asked questions. The messages said in determining which students would receive funds, BYU “gave priority to life-sustaining needs,” including food, rent and medical expense. Helping students with Spring Term tuition was a “secondary use.”

“We acknowledge that students may have other expenses,” reads the message. “However, the scope of the COVID-19 Impact Assistance funds did not extend to all expenses, reimbursements for prior payments, or compensation for canceled, delayed or forfeited opportunities, including internships and employment.” 

Students with direct deposit should see the money in their bank accounts by July 20, while those without it will be mailed checks by July 23. The message states the funds may be taxable “depending on your personal tax situation.” The decision about who received funds are final and cannot be appealed, according to the message.

The funds, which were marked as being for “Winter Semester 2020” in the message, came months after other schools had already released money from the CARES Act as well as university funds. UVU, for example, reported it had released $6,817,000 of CARES Act money to students by May 19.

Aaron Fitzner, who graduated with an M.A. in communication in April, said the funds were “better late than never.”

“I definitely had strong doubts about it happening,” he said. “I absolutely would’ve put that I needed more money had I taken the survey right now as opposed to what I wrote down in May. I didn’t intend on waiting an extra six weeks.”

Survey applications for the funds opened on May 18 and were due on June 1. Students were told they would be notified of a decision by June 8. But on June 10, students received a message from BYU that processing requests for funds was taking longer than expected and that BYU hoped “to notify you of a decision within the next couple of weeks.”

Student messages to the BYU Financial Aid Office through YMessage inquiring about the funds throughout June and July were met with a response that the applications were still with the administration and that “there is not a specified date yet for notifications.”

Fitzner said witing for the money put a “huge financial strain” on him and his fiancé who are moving to California so she can attend law school. He said he wished BYU would have sent updates sooner about the funds.

“Their communication has really failed in the last year,” he said. “It kind of just seems that it’s BYU’s pattern to be ‘we’re going to make an announcement and then we’re not going to give any sort of update until we’re at the final stage.'”

He said his fiancé’s school, in contrast, is already on their second round of releasing CARES funds to students and is starting to do another questionnaire to assess students’ needs.

Fitzner initially said he needed $900 on the survey but low-balled and asked for $700. BYU is giving him $600.He said the wording of the survey, which asked students to only report what they “needed” made him question how the funding was being evaluated.

“I wouldn’t say it was forcing me to feel like a bad person, but it almost kind of had that feeling in a way,” he said. “I’m assuming it’s not like ‘Am I going to die without it?'”

BYU student Matt Goulding was excited when BYU first announced they would release COVID relief funds since he had been paying tent at two locations after a buyer backed out of taking his rent over at his old apartment. 

“Luckily I had enough money to make it work in the meantime, but I felt frustrated that they denied the coronavirus funds only to take forever to help out in their own way,” Goulding said. “Luckily, when the funds came in I got the amount I asked for and that is a blessing, but I do wish it had come sooner.”

BYU did not immediately respond to a request from the Universe about how many students had received money or whether future rounds of COVID relief money would be forthcoming.