Overview
Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC) is authorized by Section 5 of Chapter 15A of the Massachusetts General Laws and operates under the direction of a board of trustees comprising individuals from the local community, alumni, and a student trustee. The president of MWCC is the administrative head of the college and reports to the board of trustees.
MWCC is a member of the Massachusetts public higher education system, which consists of 15 community colleges, nine state universities, and five University of Massachusetts campuses. Founded in 1963, MWCC is a two-year college with campuses in Gardner, Fitchburg, and Leominster and offers 76 degree and certificate options.
According to MWCC’s website,
[MWCC’s mission is to provide] access to affordable, high-quality, innovative, civic-minded, and relevant education and training opportunities. With a focus on community, we are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion with a racial equity lens and value the dignity and worth of all individuals and believe opportunity and access to education transforms lives.
As of fall 2021, there were 3,156 students enrolled in MWCC’s undergraduate programs, and MWCC employed 1,289 full- and part-time employees during the audit period.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, enacted by Congress on March 27, 2020, provided $30.75 billion for the Education Stabilization Fund to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States Department of Education’s (US DOE’s) Education Stabilization Fund included the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, and Education Stabilization Fund grants to state educational agencies and the Governors’ offices. The Education Stabilization Fund also allocated money for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) Program.
According to Section E(19) of US DOE’s Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Rollup Document,
Institutions may provide emergency financial aid grants to students using checks, electronic transfer payments, debit cards, and payment apps that adhere to [US DOE’s] requirements for paying credit balances [i.e., money paid directly] to students.
Section 18004 of the CARES Act required recipients to use no less than 50% of the funds received (referred to as the student portion) to provide emergency financial aid grants to students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations because of COVID-19 (including course materials, food, housing, technology, healthcare, and childcare). This section also allowed institutes of higher education (IHEs) to use up to the remaining 50% of the funds received (referred to as the institutional portion) to cover any costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Students could receive funding under the CARES Act if they were eligible to participate in Title IV Federal financial aid programs if they applied for funding using an application developed by the institution disbursing the funds. At institutions that provided both online and on-campus education, students were not eligible if they were enrolled in an online-only program on March 13, 2020, the date the President declared the national emergency.
Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act
The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) was signed into law on December 27, 2020 to provide approximately $23 billion of additional funding to support IHEs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like the CARES Act, Section 314(a)(1) of the CRRSAA allocated funding to IHEs by providing both student and institutional funding through HEERF II grants. US DOE modified its guidance to allow more students to receive funding. Under the modified guidance, students were no longer required to be eligible to participate in Title IV Federal financial aid programs or to be enrolled in on-campus classes to receive emergency financial aid grants.
US DOE also modified the guidance for the institutional portion, allowing IHEs to use funding to defray expenses associated with lost revenue. This updated guidance could also be applied to any CARES Act funding that was not expended by the time an IHE received CRRSAA funding.
American Rescue Plan Act
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law, providing an additional $40 billion for the HEERF. ARPA required that at least half of each institution’s award be used to make emergency financial aid grants to students and the rest for institutional purposes.
US DOE’s guidance document for ARPA funding, the HEERF III FAQ document, defines funding used for institutional purposes as follows:
[Funding used to] (a) implement evidence-based practices to monitor and suppress coronavirus in accordance with public health guidelines; and (b) conduct direct outreach to financial aid applicants about the opportunity to receive a financial aid adjustment due to the recent unemployment of a family member or independent student, or other circumstances.
On January 31, 2022, an additional $198 million in new awards were made available as Supplemental Support under ARPA (SSARPA).
Below is a summary of MWCC’s financial activity related to COVID-19 funding during the audit period.
| Grant Type | Award | Disbursement | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| CARES Act | $2,554,748 | $2,557,597 | ($2,849)* |
| CRRSAA | $5,520,672 | $5,416,499 | $104,173 |
| ARPA | $9,535,328 | $9,535,853 | ($525)* |
| SSARPA | $907,049 | $903,050 | $3,999 |
* The amounts spent over the award amount for the CARES Act and ARPA were reimbursed by the CRRSAA and SSARPA, respectively, when the funds became available.
| Date published: | December 27, 2024 |
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