In March 2020, many schools (colleges and other institutions of higher education) across the country closed their physical campuses in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID19) pandemic and began exclusively providing classes online. As a result of these measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, which began during the 2020 school year and continued into the next, students incurred unexpected expenses for travel, housing, food, health care, and technology purchases to facilitate distance learning. These unplanned expenses, along with a declining economy, were particularly disruptive to the educational pursuits of students with limited resources.
The CARES Act was enacted in March 2020 and appropriated about $14 billion for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), of which about $12.6 billion was for grants to schools to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19.1 The CARES Act directed the Department of Education (Education) to allocate these funds to schools using a funding formula.2 This legislation required schools to distribute at least 50 percent of the funds they receive—approximately $6.25 billion—to students as emergency financial student aid grants (emergency student aid) for expenses related to disrupted campus operations due to the coronavirus.3 The remaining funds may be used by schools for additional emergency student aid grants, or to cover costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus.4