The report, “Equity and Emergency: COVID-19 Relief Funding at Historically and Predominantly Black Community Colleges in the South,” examines how 39 institutions across 10 Southern states utilized Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) allocations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This study offers a clear picture of what institutional funding can be when policymakers prioritize the needs of students,” said Dr. Kayla Elliott, co-author and Joint Center Workforce Policy Director.
From 2020 to 2022, the federal government distributed nearly $80 billion to higher education institutions through three rounds of HEERF funding, with community colleges receiving $25 billion of that total. The 39 institutions analyzed in the study received about $765 million for direct student aid and $1.9 billion for institutional expenses.
The funding came at a critical time for Black community college students, who were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. According to the report, Black adults faced higher rates of food and housing insecurity during COVID-19 and were more likely to take on debt to pay for household expenses.
“Black students' community college enrollment declined by 21 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2021,” the report notes, highlighting the pandemic’s acceleration of already concerning enrollment trends.
According to the report, the HEERF funding model was groundbreaking in three key ways: it represented an unprecedented federal investment in community colleges, it based allocations partially on Pell Grant recipients, and it included special funding for institutions serving students of color.
