Emergency Tuition Assistance
Emergency Tuition Assistance Grant
The Emergency Tuition Assistance Grant provides one-time financial assistance to currently enrolled students experiencing an unexpected and documented financial emergency that creates a significant and immediate barrier to remaining enrolled.
The grant is intended to help students who experience an unforeseen event or circumstance that materially changes their ability to meet a current-semester tuition obligation.
Financial need alone does not establish eligibility. The student must demonstrate an unexpected triggering event, the resulting financial impact, and how the requested assistance would help resolve the immediate emergency.
Important
Emergency Tuition Assistance is not a general tuition-assistance program and does not replace financial aid or other available financial resources.
The grant does not generally cover:
- Outstanding tuition or fee balances from prior academic semesters
- Tuition or fees that were already outstanding before the current semester
- Future semester tuition or fees
- Predictable tuition expenses that the student was unable to plan or budget for
- Repeated courses
- Recurring educational expenses
- Expenses that existed before the identified emergency occurred
A current-semester tuition balance may be considered when an unexpected, documented event has created a new financial hardship that directly affects the student's ability to remain enrolled.
What Is an Emergency?
Examples of circumstances that may qualify include:
- Unexpected loss of employment or significant reduction in income
- Unexpected loss or reduction of financial aid or other financial support
- Sudden family emergency or caregiving responsibility
- Unexpected housing loss, eviction, or other housing emergency
- Natural disaster, fire, or significant property loss
- Unexpected medical or legal expense
- Unexpected transportation or technology expense that materially affects the student's ability to remain enrolled
- Other unforeseen circumstances that create a significant and documented financial barrier to continued enrollment
The occurrence of one of these circumstances does not guarantee an award. Each request is reviewed individually based on the student's circumstances, documentation, urgency, eligibility, and available funds.
Timing Matters
Students must apply during the semester in which they are currently enrolled.
The emergency must also be relevant to the student's current-semester financial circumstances.
Students should not wait until a prior-semester balance has accumulated before seeking assistance. Emergency Tuition Assistance generally cannot be used to resolve balances from previous semesters.
Likewise, being at the beginning of a semester does not, by itself, make a tuition balance an emergency. Tuition is a predictable educational expense. Students are expected to pursue available financial aid, payment plans, scholarships, and other resources to address anticipated tuition costs.
A beginning-of-semester tuition balance may be considered only when an unexpected event or change in circumstances has created a new financial barrier that could not reasonably have been anticipated.
Eligibility
- Undergraduate GPA: 2.0+
- Graduate GPA: 3.0+
- Must be actively enrolled in the current semester in which the application is submitted
- Must be enrolled in an eligible degree program
- Priority may be given to students in their final semester
- Non-Degree, certificate, and CUSP students are not eligible
- Student must demonstrate financial need and an unexpected qualifying emergency
- Exceptions may be considered only when permitted by program guidelines and supported by appropriate documentation
Required Documentation
Students may be asked to provide documentation demonstrating both the emergency event and its financial impact, including:
- Written statement explaining the emergency and when it occurred
- Pay stubs, unemployment documentation, or other evidence of income loss
- Documentation of financial aid changes
- Medical or family emergency documentation, when applicable
- Documentation of unexpected expenses
- Bank statements or other financial documentation
- Tuition statement or current account balance
- Any other documentation needed to evaluate the request
How Your Request Is Evaluated
The Emergency Funding team considers:
- What unexpected event occurred?
- When did the event occur?
- How did the event create the financial hardship?
- How does the hardship affect the student's current-semester enrollment?
- Is the requested expense related to the identified emergency?
- Can one-time assistance reasonably resolve or stabilize the immediate financial barrier?
- Has the student explored other available financial resources?
- Does the request meet all program eligibility requirements?
Important: Meeting the Basic Criteria Does Not Guarantee an Award
Submitting an application does not guarantee approval.
The Emergency Tuition Assistance Grant provides up to $3,000, but the amount awarded, if any, is determined based on the student's individual circumstances, documented need, eligibility, urgency, and available program funds.
An application may be denied even when a student demonstrates financial need.
Before You Apply
Please remember:
A tuition balance is not automatically an emergency.
An emergency is an unexpected event that creates a significant and documented financial barrier to continued enrollment.
Students should pursue financial aid, payment plans, scholarships, and other available resources for predictable tuition expenses.
Having an outstanding tuition balance does not automatically qualify you for Emergency Tuition Assistance.
Contact Information
For any questions regarding the Emergency Tuition Assistance grant or the application process, please contact emergencyfunding@jjay.cuny.edu.
Click on the application link (https://johnjaycollege-ugmtg.formstack.com/forms/sefgrantapp).