Things happen. Especially when you're an adult student trying to balance work, family, community, and your education. If you are a currently enrolled student at Peirce and find yourself unable to continue your studies because of an unexpected financial hardship, we can help.

Emergency aid grants are available on a limited basis to students in need for things like utility bills, rent, food, medical/dental bills and childcare. Guidelines are as follows:

• Applicants must be a degree-seeking student at Peirce College and have earned at the minimum 6 credits at Peirce College
• Have a GPA of 2.5 or above, as of the date of the award
• Be enrolled during the academic term in which the Emergency Aid grant is awarded
• Complete an Emergency Aid application and include documentation of their expenses following these guidelines:
  • Eligible expenses include but are not limited to utilities, food, medical/dental and childcare.
  • Not eligible are expected school expenses such as parking, fines, tuition, books, supplies and required tools/equipment.
  • Students must submit a bill that can be paid online with a credit card from a third party

The program is designed to assist with things like overdue utility bills and rent, food, unexpected medical/dental bills and backup childcare. Detailed guidelines are available here. Please keep the following in mind:

• Documentation of your request for assistance, including copies of bills, is required at the time of submitting your application, with the exception of food assistance requests. 
• Students who receive food assistance must provide copies of their register receipts showing that they used the gift card as requested or they will not be considered for aid in the future.
• Students should check their Peirce email frequently; award emails are sent there as well as requests for additional information. In previous grant periods, students have not been awarded because they did not respond to requests from the committee in a timely manner.
• A copy of a paper bill needs to be uploaded (most online bill requests do not include the information needed to pay online as a guest
  • For example: the bill pay website should have an option like this:
    
    
• Make sure the bill that you upload is a picture of the complete bill
• Bills cannot be paid if they are not in the students' name

Students who have already received an emergency aid grant are allowed to apply again, but priority will be given to students who have not received an award in the past.

If you have any questions, please contact Tracey Thomas, Associate Dean, Student Support Services, directly at emergencyaid@peirce.edu or 215.670.9423.