Students: How to receive American Rescue Plan Act funds

On Monday, more than 30,000 students across all five campuses received emails from Pitt’s Office of Admissions and Financial Aid with details on how to apply for and receive grants as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.

With this third round of federal funding, Pitt has received a total of $111 million in COVID-19 relief funds and has allocated $58.3 million to go directly to students. 

Here’s what students should do to apply for an emergency grant and/or confirm how they would like to receive their funds.

FAFSA students

• Undergrad and grad students who have a FAFSA on file with the University and demonstrate financial need will receive a grant of $600 or $1,200, depending on their financial need based on FAFSA information.
• These students received an email at their pitt.edu address from Pitt Financial Aid asking them to indicate whether any award they may receive should be applied to unpaid charges on the student account or refunded to them in full. Students whose FAFSA data is incomplete or under review are included in the non-FAFSA group.

Non-FAFSA students

• Undergrad and grad students who have not filed a FAFSA or whose FASFA data is incomplete or under review can apply for an emergency grant to cover unexpected expenses during the pandemic such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care) and childcare. The application asks students to attest to emergency needs, and the deadline to apply for a grant is by 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. (Please note that the deadline has been extended since publication.)
• These students may also indicate on the application form whether any award they may receive should be applied to unpaid charges on the student account or refunded to them in full.

Visit the ARPA funding webpage for full details and answers to FAQs.