2024 Reports

Pandemic Relief Spending and Recovery Strategies: Findings From a Survey of Community Colleges in Six States

Klempin, Serena Constance; Griffin, Sarah; Monahan, Tia Jane; Anderson, Megan Nicole; Brock, Thomas

In order to assist higher education institutions and their students during the pandemic, the federal government established the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund, which directed over $75 billion to institutions of higher education—including nearly $25 billion to community colleges—over a three-year period. The U.S. Department of Education worked on a rapid timeline to distribute these funds to institutions, which they could use to provide direct aid to students facing financial challenges and cover institutional costs related to the pandemic.

Drawing on a survey of community colleges in six states—California, Michigan, New York (State University of New York [SUNY] colleges), Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas—this report provides insight into the specific pandemic recovery activities colleges implemented, colleges’ perceptions of how successful HEER funds were in addressing student and institutional needs during the pandemic, and colleges’ views of unmet needs. The institutional survey was completed by 170 out of a total of 265 community colleges in the six states.