The Pratt Student Emergency Fund has been created to provide quick response emergency grants to enrolled and current students experiencing an unexpected financial hardship or emergency so that they may remain enrolled in school. Preference will be given to students who have financial need. This fund has been made possible by institutional funding.
Eligibility and Guidelines:
Student Emergency Fund grants are designed to assist students facing an emergency event that may interfere with their academic success. The fund cannot help resolve larger ongoing financial issues.
Examples of emergencies to be considered include, but are not limited to:
- Travel home for severe illness or death in the immediate family
- Documented damage or theft of essential academic or personal belongings
- Required uninsured or underinsured medical treatment or follow-up medical care
- An unanticipated loss of a job in mid-semester resulting in a lack of funds to meet necessary school expenses
- Prescription eyeglasses or essential dental work
- Unplanned costs related to a search for a permanent job or preparation for a graduate school application
- Unexpected commuting costs because of injury or illness, or other unforeseen circumstances
- Victims of assault and domestic violence
Grants cannot be used to pay for most anticipated expenses and any of the following:
- Tuition and/or fees
- Study guides and/or homework websites
- Books — unless the student is seeking to replace books lost due to damage or theft and can prove those circumstances by submitting documentation
- Credit card bills
- Cable television and/or pay channels
- Expenses that support a student’s family residence, including rent or mortgage payments at a permanent address if the student does not live there while in school
- Expenses that don’t directly support the student’s education
- Auto expenses that are unrelated to travel for the student’s education
- Previously owed debt
All grant requests require documentation, and applicants may be asked to meet with a designated Office of the Student Advocate member before receiving a grant.
Students may only receive one Student Emergency Fund grant once per academic year. Applicants who have received a grant in previous academic years must meet with Advocacy staff if applying for a second grant.