All students enrolled in a postsecondary institution that can grant funds are eligible to receive emergency assistance, so long as the student demonstrates appropriate need and is enrolled in an institution of higher education.

Each institution determines its own standards for financial eligibility. To assess need, institutions may draw on a range of data sources, including the FAFSA, the Minnesota State Aid Application, regional or local economic data, student demographics, Student Aid Index or unmet need calculations, and Pell Grant eligibility status.

The EAPS Grant Program is administered by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE), which approves institutions' plans for distribution and reporting requirements, at which point the Commissioner of the OHE can distribute funds.

EAPS is funded out of the state’s general fund and has traditionally been run as a competitive grant program through the Minnesota Office of Higher Education for private, non-profit colleges and as a legislatively-named grant for the Minnesota State and University of Minnesota systems.

For the 2024 – 2025 biennium, Minnesota allocated a total of $7.16 million for EAPS ($3,579,000 per year). Of the $3.58 million allocated in funds per year: $2.25 million was given per year to Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, $779,000 per year was awarded to the University of Minnesota, and $500,000 in emergency grant funds were awarded to Minnesota Tribal Colleges and eligible nonprofit institutions with a demonstrable homeless student population, the remaining $50,000 is used by the Commissioner for the administrative costs of administering EAPS.

For the 2026-2027 biennium, Minnesota State will receive $4.5 million for EAPS Grants, while the University of Minnesota campuses will receive $1.56 million. In December 2025, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education awarded a total of $1 million in EAPS funding through a competitive grant process to 10 private, non-profit and tribal colleges, with award amounts ranging from $10,000 to $150,000 per institution.

Students can request up to $1,500, and institutions can provide more than this amount for a single request only if there is a need specific to housing, in which case institutions can make an exception. In 2024, over 3,300 emergency grants were provided to students at Minnesota State campuses with an average of nearly $700 per grant. At the University of Minnesota campuses, over 850 emergency grants were provided to students for an average of around $900 per grant. Grantees in the new biennium can receive up to $150,000 over the biennium, with private nonprofit and tribal institutions remaining eligible to apply for up to $75,000 per year.

Minnesota lists a wide range of eligible expenses that include rent or mortgage payments, emergency shelter, utility bills, transportation to and from campus or work, gas, automotive repairs, groceries, hot meals, childcare items, hygiene products, medical devices such as eyeglasses, medical services, while leaving it up to institutional discretion to identify other eligible expenses. Ineligible funds include tuition and fees, meal plans, books, or other “expected fees” related to the cost of attendance, though the latter is not clearly defined.

Because institutions have discretion in determining eligibility and who is awarded EAPS funds, there is not a consistent application process followed by all institutions. Guidelines for the application process specify that institutions should have discussions with students about their financial issue(s) and the grant application/award process to assess whether the student is eligible for grants, collect more information, and see if there are other referrals that may support them. However, this is the only real specification for the application process. Documentation requirements are often dependent on the requested amount; for larger expenses, many IHEs require some documentation (e.g., a lease agreement).

The guidelines for reviewing student applications for the EAPS program state that applications should be reviewed by a cross-departmental committee consisting of 2 or 3 staff or faculty, though it can vary by institution based on available resources. Additionally, the guidelines specify that the committee should determine whether an application is granted funds based on standards set by the grantee, which can include criteria such as a judgment about a student’s financial need, specific circumstances, and the likelihood of the student dropping out.

Institutions receiving EAPS funds must complete all monitoring and reporting documentation required by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. This includes four narrative reports—interim and final—covering: how EAPS is being delivered; what application and eligibility determination processes the institution uses; what follow-up processes are in place; what other resources are used to prevent future financial crises (such as financial planning); data on grants issued, reasons, numbers of students served, and amounts; and grant impact data, including whether recipients remained enrolled. As required by Minnesota Statute, institutions receiving $50,000 or more must complete at least one monitoring visit during the grant period, with annual monitoring visits required for grants of $250,000 or more.