Dear New York Tech faculty and staff,

On May 11, 2021, we were informed that $12,170,280 was allocated to New York Tech through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (HEERF III). I write to share some details about these funds.

Based on the grant award notification received on May 20, $6,091,796 of the HEERF III allocation should be distributed by New York Tech directly to students, with priority given to students with exceptional need. New York Tech expects the HEERF III emergency student grants will be handled in a manner similar to the CARES Act/HEERF allocations we received and reported to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in fiscal years 2020 and 2021.

The other $6,078,484 of the HEERF III allocation may be used for expenses and losses sustained by our institution due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While we do not have detailed guidance yet from the DOE, based upon our experience with HEERF I and HEERF II, it is expected that we will be able to use these funds in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022.

At this point, and pending additional guidance from the DOE on what the funds can be used for, we do expect, and are accounting for, being able to use HEERF II and HEERF III allocations to help balance our fiscal 2021 and 2022 budgets. It is important to note, however, that these are one-time revenues and not a long-term solution for budget shortfalls that will be resolved only through restructuring and expense reductions, potentially offset in the future by increased enrollment revenues.

I thank all of you for your efforts and commitment to see us through this difficult time as we work on our short- and longer-term challenges.

Sincerely,

Hank Foley, Ph.D.
President, New York Institute of Technology