The University of Iowa distributed $8.085 million to 6,500 students in the second round of funding from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.

The UI Office of Financial Aid dispersed the funding — which averaged $1,200 per student — authorized from The U.S. Department of Education, according to a campuswide email sent Monday. 

“A total of 1,800 more students received assistance compared to the number who received 2020 CARES Act funds last summer,” the UI wrote in the email to campus.

The funding was distributed to students at all levels of education at the UI, according to the email, assisting undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. 

• 82 percent of the funds were dispersed to undergraduate students at the UI, while 65 percent of the undergraduate recipients were also awarded the Federal Pell Grant. 
• 10 percent of the funds were awarded to UI professional students 
• 8 percent of funds were awarded to UI graduate students

The UI said 39 percent of the recipients were first-generation students. 

As previously reported by The Daily Iowan, the UI Office of Financial Aid received 4,966 applications in fall 2020 during the first round of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. The office awarded 95 percent of the funding to students. 

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s website, Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund II, appropriated by Congress, doled out a total of $81.88 billion for education. 

The UI also reported six new student and three UI employee COVID-19 cases since April 16.