Parkersburg, W.Va. (May 13, 2020) – West Virginia University at Parkersburg has acted quickly to award more than $876,000 in funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to students in need with financial expenses related to COVID-19.

The college invited qualifying students to apply for an emergency grant to assist with food, technology and child care expenses needed to continue their higher educational pursuits. The grant application period ran from April 24 to May 8.

Financial Aid staff reviewed the applications and awarded a total of $876,544 in funding to 1,046 students, with grants ranging from $650 to $1,300. The college decided to award a $650 cash grant to every eligible student, plus additional funds to those who filled out an application indicating greater financial need. Students awarded a grant will receive funds by as early as Friday, May 15 via the student’s requested refund method (direct deposit, BankMobile VIBE deposit or paper check in the mail).

“While WVU Parkersburg is delighted to be able to support our eligible students with these grants, we wish we had been able to give every student a grant in this difficult time,” said WVU Parkersburg President Chris Gilmer. “We appreciate the federal government for providing us with these funds, but we want our students and their families to realize that we were given strict federal guidelines about which students would qualify and which would not. The University had to follow those guidelines, but we did not develop them at the local level.”

WVU Parkersburg administration determined the individual grant award amounts based on the belief that all students attending classes at the Parkersburg Campus or Jackson County Center were in some way financially impacted by the disruption of switching to 100 percent online courses and the closing of its facilities.

“We recognize that all of our students have been challenged financially and in other ways by this pandemic, and we want all of them to know that we support them and are here for them. We look forward to welcoming a large number of students for summer school in the coming weeks and a large group of new and returning students for the fall semester. Everyone is welcome at WVU Parkersburg, and we hope everyone will choose to take advantage of a high-quality, local higher education,” added Gilmer.

For more information, go to www.wvup.edu/CARES-Emergency-Grants.