ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA—Winthrop University has provided $3.7 million in fee adjustments to 2,960 currently enrolled students for portions of their housing, dining and parking fees after the campus closed and the university moved to remote learning last month, Interim President George W. Hynd announced today.
“Thanks to the good work of a team of individuals from residence life, finance, information technology, and financial aid, fee adjustments were made to impacted student accounts last week,” Hynd noted. “As mentioned previously, some fee adjustments resulted in a refund if a student’s account was current, while other fee adjustments reduced the student’s balance owed to the university.”
The fee adjustments were calculated based on students’ unused portions of residence hall, meal plan, Café Cash, and parking permit charges. Fee adjustments were completed last week, and for accounts that resulted in a credit balance, checks were mailed or processed by direct deposit Monday.
Hynd also announced that pending the receipt of federal funds Winthrop soon will be distributing $2,691,065 from the CARES Act to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in the spring semester.
“Our students have been impacted in truly unimaginable ways,” he said. “Hopefully these resources will abate some of their financial stress.”
Hynd said the university awaits action of the Department of Education to make the federal funds available. Winthrop’s disbursement plan will include undergraduate student distributions based on a student’s status as Pell-eligible or non-Pell-eligible, per the limited guidance received from the department. Winthrop’s plan will also include allocations for graduate students.
Hynd noted that Winthrop is still expecting guidance on the other half of the funding as well, which is to be used to cover the university’s COVID-19 related costs.
“We are eagerly awaiting more information. We know that some capital and pre-recruitment activities are excluded, and that there is an expectation, but not a requirement, for maintaining payroll.”
States also are receiving funds through CARES, and any state-allocated funds will be distributed at Governor Henry McMaster’s discretion to public and private higher education institutions.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at longshawj@winthrop.edu.
