To help higher education institutions combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Congress allocated nearly $80 billion in funding to institutions across the country through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. The funds were distributed on three separate occasions: $14 billion in March 2020 (HEERF I), $23 billion in December 2020 (HEERF II), and $40 billion in March 2021 (HEERF III).
A new report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has examined how funds from HEERF I, II, and III affected 39 historically Black community colleges (HBCCs) and predominately Black community colleges (PBCCs) throughout the southern United States.
In total, HBCCs and PBCCs received over $2.7 billion throughout the three HEERF allotments. Of this $2.7 billion, nearly $800 million was issued for direct student aid disbursements and $1.9 billion was allocated for institutional spending. HBCCs and PBCCs spent between $3.7 million to $348.3 million per institution, with an average of $47.8 million.
During HEERF I, HBCCs and PBCCs primarily spent their institutional expenditures on campus safety, distance learning, technology upgrades, and additional emergency grants. By HEERF III, none of the schools included in the study spent their institutional allocations on campus safety. Instead, they were more likely to use their federal funding for distance learning, coronavirus practices, and equipment, or to supplement their loss of revenue. In 2021, HBCCs and PBCCs used an average of $2 million in HEERF funding on lost revenue. In 2022, these schools averaged spending over $1.5 million in HEERF funding on lost revenue.
Overall, HBCCs and PBCCs spent an average of $1.4 million in student aid disbursement in 2020, $3.9 million in 2021, and $2.8 million in 2022. However, the average total aid disbursed by institutions varied significantly depending on the educational institution’s share of Black students. In 2020 and 2022, HBCCs and PBCCs whose student body was between 30 and 39 percent Black had the highest median student aid disbursements. In 2021, the highest median student aid disbursements were found among schools whose student population was 80 to 89 percent Black. Institutions with a smaller population of Pell Grant recipients typically disbursed more emergency student aid than those who primarily enrolled Pell Grant recipients.
