ERIC Number: ED650409
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Mar
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
How HEER Funding Rescued Community Colleges from the Pandemic. ARCC Network Brief
Clive Belfield; Thomas Brock; John Fink; Davis Jenkins
Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University
The Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund had two main purposes: (1) to ensure that colleges could continue to provide education to students in the wake of the pandemic and (2) to provide emergency financial assistance through colleges directly to students. Four years after the onset of the pandemic, this ARCC Network brief uses college financial data--including data recently released for fiscal year 2022--to look at what happened to college finances and to assess the importance of HEER funding for the financial solvency of community colleges over the course of the pandemic. The authors find that during the peak years of the pandemic (2020-2022), community colleges lost huge numbers of students: On average, colleges lost 580 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students or 15% of pre-pandemic year-on-year enrollment, whereas college enrollments typically fluctuate by +/-2% each year. The authors also find that federal HEER funding saved community colleges from massive losses in tuition revenue during the pandemic. Instead of losing revenue, HEER funding increased total revenue per college from $81 million to $84 million, covering lost tuition and offsetting new costs associated with the pandemic. HEER funding also provided $4 million in student aid per college, on average, making up for lost resources students experienced during the pandemic. The authors--who also wrote an associated blog post that includes an interactive dashboard on this topic--contend that community colleges are confronting new fiscal challenges post-pandemic. As HEER funding has ended, many community colleges are faced with a difficult fiscal outlook, with increased costs due to inflation and decreased overall enrollments relative to pre-pandemic levels. Navigating these new fiscal realities will be extremely challenging for community colleges, raising new concerns about the viability of many colleges in the post-pandemic era. [This report was written with the Accelerating Recovery in Community Colleges (ARCC) Network.]
Descriptors: Emergency Programs, Federal Aid, Grants, Pandemics, COVID-19, Community Colleges, College Enrollment, Enrollment Trends, Educational Finance, Tuition, Income, Student Financial Aid, Costs, Budgets, Federal Legislation
Community College Research Center. Available from: CCRC Publications. Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street Box 174, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-678-3091; Fax: 212-678-3699; e-mail: ccrc@columbia.edu; Web site: http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED); Ascendium Education Group, Inc.
Authoring Institution: Columbia University, Community College Research Center (CCRC); National Student Clearinghouse Research Center; University of California, Davis. Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund; Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act 2020
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305X220022