Ingham County Health Department

Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail said COVID cases are declining at Michigan State University.

In a recent update, Vail followed with saying that MSU had 24 new cases a week. From the previous week there were more than 40 cases.

If anyone was wondering if cases were going to rise after fall break, she doesn’t think so. This is due to the lack of surges after the return to campus in September from football games or fraternity and sorority rushes.

MSU’s success against the COVID-19 virus is mainly to blame for their implementation of vaccine requirements, according to Vail.

MSU Freshmen Class Lives 2 Years on Campus

Since the 1980s, MSU freshmen have been required to live on-campus for one full year. Now it is changed to two years. The reason behind this is because studies show a 2.5 percent increase in graduation rates of on-campus students opposed to off-campus students.

This requirement is believed to help students overcome the “sophomore slump”; a circumstance related with feelings of dissatisfaction and uncertainty that can be referred to as less services and programs.

Students feel that the new requirements are forceful and if dorms were in better condition, they will see an increase in student positivity coming back to live on campus for their second year.

MSU Freshman Class EFC

On Oct. 8 of this year MSU students received an email notifying them that they should be expecting a grant from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund or HEERF.

These grants ranged from 600 dollars to 1200 dollars and were given to provide support for any COVID-19 related emergency expenses for those who have an Expected Family Contribution or EFC of 20 thousand dollars or less.

Students with an EFC of 20 thousand dollars or more received an email with an application for the American Rescue Plan Act or ARP.

The funds are also based on demonstrated need in their application. Only 3,600 students were chosen out of the 34 thousand that were notified of the ARP fund.

Many students were confused at the fact that their siblings received the HEERF grant while the other sibling received an email for the ARP application.

That is simply because the EFC of each individual in the household varies based on the income of the students themselves and the income of the parents combined.

Based on original reporting by Abeeha Zaidi, Madison Rose and Drew Goretzka. Script by Shakyra Mabone and Chandra Fleming.