COVID-19 Information

President Joe Biden announced that the White House will end the ongoing national emergency declarations tied to the coronavirus pandemic on May 11. Find information and updates regarding how COVID-19 may be impacting financial aid. The information below is subject to change as policies and regulations change.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Under the CARES Act, our office is allowed to exclude from the quantitative (pace) standard of SAP, attempted credits a student was unable to complete due to the COVID-19 national emergency. Our office would make the determination that the student’s failure to complete credits was due a COVID-19 circumstance.

Return of Title IV Funds

If a student completely withdraws from classes and writes an explanation why the withdrawal was due to the COVID-19 national emergency, our office will determine whether Title IV Funds need to be returned or not. This relief is under the CARES Act and is applicable until the last date that the national emergency is in effect.

Verification

There are flexibilities with the V4/V5 documentation, signature requirements are waived where no responsible parent can be found, and flexibilities in verification of non-filing and obtaining duplicate W-2 forms from IRS. Institutions may still be required to review and verify conflicting information concerning a student’s eligibility.

Student Loan Payment Pause

The student loan payment pause has been extended until the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved. Payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023 — payments will resume 60 days after that. We will notify borrowers before payments restart. The pause includes the following relief measures for eligible loans:

  • a suspension of loan payments
  • a 0% interest rate
  • stopped collections on defaulted loans

For information about the university’s COVID-19 policies, UH community updates, frequently asked questions, and additional campus related information, visit UH Mānoa’s COVID-19 page.