IMPORTANT: Students receiving financial obligation forgiveness

Aloha faculty and staff,

Mahalo nui loa for all that you do to educate and support our students. I wanted to notify all of you of a federally funded program that students may ask about. Eligible students who have a financial-obligation hold on their accounts will be receiving a one-time credit that will be applied to their overdue balance through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). Only students attending school any time between March 13, 2020 and summer 2021 are eligible, and all eligible students are being notified by email.

After the credits are applied, the students’ financial obligation holds will be removed so they are able to register for the fall 2021 semester and/or request their transcript. Students do not need to take any additional steps or fulfill any requirements to receive the credit. Credits are being applied incrementally and, for a student with multiple financial obligations, it may take several days before all the credits are posted to the student’s account to completely clear the student’s entire outstanding balance. The process will be complete by July 29 when the students can check their MyUH accounts to confirm the credit was received and holds were removed from the student’s account.

With this relief, students are being encouraged to register for the fall, if they have not done so yet, and to schedule an appointment with their academic advisors to clear up any other holds on their accounts.

Please remind your students that there is additional financial assistance available for the upcoming academic school year, especially with HEERF and other federal stimulus money available to assist college students impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please refer them to the UH System Student Basic Needs website and click on their campus for more information and to apply and/or tell them to contact their counselor/academic advisor for assistance.

If students have questions, please refer them to COVID19@hawaii.edu.

Mahalo nui loa,

Michael Bruno, UH Mānoa Provost
Bonnie Irwin, UH Hilo Chancellor
Maenette Benham, UH West Oʻahu Chancellor
Erika Lacro, UH Vice President for Community Colleges