COVID-19 & Financial Aid

We know and understand that there might be challenges in the coming weeks and we hope to ease those to the extent possible. Please email SFS with any questions or concerns and we will help you navigate through this difficult time.

All functions of SFS will be online and will remain intact. Financial aid applications will be processed in the same manner and time as in previous years.  The process of disbursing financial aid to student accounts will continue.

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) Disbursement Emails

sent an email yesterday from Julie Wickstrom, the Chief Financial Aid Officer at Boston University. Since this email went to all eligible undergraduate and graduate students at Boston University, it came from the central BU Financial Assistance office, rather than from our office. A second email was also sent from Chase Bank indicating that Boston University has sent you a payment.

These funds are part of the COVID Relief Bill (CRRSAA), signed into law late last year. More on the bill and BU’s distribution to students is described in this BU Today article released Friday, March 12, 2021. This funding is in addition to the direct stimulus payments you could be eligible for, based on your IRS-calculated eligibility. This grant fund is separate from that disbursement. No repayment is necessary.

Since there was no application process for these funds, we understand some students have been unsure if these notifications were legitimate. We’re glad to see that you are applying IT best practices to identify potential phishing emails. We can confirm the two specific emails about the HEERF Grant from BU Financial Assistance and Chase Bank are not spam. Please follow the instructions in these emails to access your eligible HEERF funds.