CARES Act Review Highlights Lack of Support for Public Colleges – NASFAA
While the ongoing pandemic and stalled congressional negotiations over additional coronavirus aid continues to squeeze the fiscal belts of higher education institutions, a new report found public colleges were provided with insufficient aid through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The review — conducted by Accountable.US, a nonprofit government watchdog group — warns that the lack of sufficient funding could promote tuition hikes, and threaten higher education affordability and access for students.
The CARES Act provided more than $14 billion in emergency funding to higher education and was made available to institutions through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), which has faced a number of legal challenges over guidance and implementation issues. NASFAA assembled a timeline that accounts for the enactment, aid distribution and updated guidance provided by the Department of Education (ED) for the CARES Act.
In the Accountable.US survey of the largest universities in the U.S. — conducted across 44 states — found 36 states did not receive enough HEERF funding to cover reported COVID-induced revenue losses or budget cuts and shortfalls.
“Historically, colleges and universities facing budget shortfalls, revenue losses, or budget cuts have had to increase tuition rates for students,” the report reads. “These increases threaten affordability and access to higher education — particularly for students of color, low-income students, and those from non-traditional backgrounds.”