While many college students are being affected financially by COVID-19, the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation are reaching out to students with a new website to help distribute funds to those who need it.

President Willis learned about SwiftStudent while at a conference in Washington DC that discussed student success, she brought the idea back to EvCC and recommended it to the financial department. After extensive research and phone calls with the CEO of the company, EvCC decided to become a partner.

Laurie Franklin, Dean of Enrollment and Student Financial Services explained that “After extensive research and phone calls with the CEO of the company, we were really excited to implement it. The company did a great job bringing in the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) and other financial aid offices across the country to provide insight, feedback, and testing. Many new tools do not do their due diligence and do not include financial aid professionals in their development. This was very different and they answered all of our questions and continue to ask for feedback from EvCC, especially regarding feedback from students…”

SwiftStudent lets students appeal to the financial aid office. Once a student identifies what financial assistance they need, they can then go onto the site and use the buttons on the home menu to select what they need. After selecting which category the student needs, the site will ask them to fill out a form, which the student will then email to the financial aid office.

There are options to help get onto a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as well as change how much FAFSA is giving during these new and challenging times. SwiftStudent isn’t only for students who have filled out FAFSA. Any student can fill out an appeal. There are options to ask for financial aid for a car repair, child care costs, food costs, COVID-19 emergencies, disability and even a financial emergency (ex. hospital bills). All of these documents can be downloaded and sent from home from the SwiftStudent website.

SwiftStudent takes into account the CARES Act, which gives colleges across the nation anywhere from $63.5 million (the lowest amount given to a single institution) up to $291 million (the largest amount given to a single institution). These funds are specifically for COVID-19 affected students.