As students continue to experience financial insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, new University of Oregon programs and federal funding are available to help.
The University of Oregon will launch a Financial Wellness Center in October. On Sept. 14, the federal government released the Fall Emergency CARES Act Grant application. David Gerstenfeld, the Oregon Employment Department Acting Director, held a live media briefing on Sept. 16, and discussed how the OED is assisting those impacted by the wildfires and additional benefits and extension programs.
Gilbert Rogers, the Assistant Director of Financial Wellness at UO, will help launch the Financial Wellness Center and will educate students on how to be responsible with money. Their mission is to financially empower students by providing training on how to make strong financial decisions, while in school and post-graduation, he said.
Vincent Morrelli, a senior at UO, is interested in learning more about how to budget and believes that this would be a useful resource for him and other students. “I have payments, and I’m trying to be better in terms of making sure everything’s on time,” he said. “But it’s still a little dysfunctional.”
A group of financial coaches will be available to support students with budgeting, credit building, money management and student loans via Zoom.
Jim Brooks, the Associate Vice President and Director of Financial Aid said UO has always had a financial literacy program, but there was no one available full-time to execute it.
This year, UO received a gift from a donor who funded the Financial Wellness Center. For the first time, UO will prioritize a resource for financial wellness and will fund a group of staff, including Rogers, to deliver this program full-time. Brooks said there will be more information available in the next month.
Brooks said that the Financial Aid Department is trying their best to continue building a university that is affordable for students. He said that they are very excited to see what will come out of this, and how it will benefit students.
“We’re ecstatic,” Brooks said.
David Gerstenfeld, the Oregon Employment Department Acting Director, held a live media briefing on Wednesday, Sept. 16 and discussed the Low Wages Assistance program and the additional $300 benefits that will be delivered to Oregonians at the end of September. Gerstenfeld also covered how the Oregon Employment Department is going through claims by location to identify those who have been heavily impacted by the wildfires.
“The unemployment rate for August was recently announced as 7.7%,” Gerstenfeld said. “It’s down from the highest rate we’ve seen in Oregon ever which was 14.9% in April.”
The Oregon Employment Department is on track for delivering Lost Wages Assistance funds by late September for an additional $300 in unemployment benefits, he said, and there will be extension programs that students can use on the department’s website.
“Our agency does a lot of work with helping people, including students get training, find career advice and opportunities that can help them become employed,” he said.
Morrelli feels very fortunate to have benefitted from the Oregon Employment Department when he was laid off from his job in March. He is now back at work but has emphasized how extra funds would be “extremely helpful.”
On Monday, Sept. 14, the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships released the Fall Emergency CARES Act Grant which is funded by the Department of Education. Brooks said UO received about $16 million from the CARES Act and $8 million of it was for students’ emergency funding.
“We have spent about $5.3 million, so we are going to carry about $2.7 million into next school year,” Brooks said.
If expenses occur, students can apply again as long as there are funds available. “We are trying to get money to students, as they need it,” he said.
The deadline for the Fall Emergency CARES Act Grant is Dec.11, 2020.
Brooks also recommended that students apply for the Students in Crisis Fund, which has about $250,000 of funding left.
Applying for these specific resources does not affect financial aid.
