COVID funding helped historically Black colleges survive the pandemic. What happens now?

Historically Black colleges and universities, which usually operate with fewer resources than most other higher education institutions, experienced disproportionate effects from the pandemic.

To address the inequity, Congress tossed the schools a nearly $3 billion lifeline under the American Rescue Plan, President Joe Biden's sweeping COVID-19 relief package.

A newly released fact sheet from the Department of Education showed what a difference that extra money made, laying out a state-by-state breakdown of the funds provided through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund over the past year. Under the ARP, half the funds must be used to provide direct financial relief to students, though the Department of Education expect school administrators will use more than half to help students financially.

As the report shows, the amount provided to HBCUs varies by state and school, but school administrators tried to stretch each dollar to do much more on their campuses during the pandemic. Though the help has been welcomed, lawmakers and school officials question whether the government will maintain its support after the pandemic ends.

Presidents say HEERF helped student retention

A 2021 survey by the American Council on Education found that HEERF was essential to retaining students and helping all institutions continue operations during the pandemic. Of 400 college presidents polled, nearly two thirds – 63% – agreed that relief funds kept students from dropping out. Over 79% also agreed the funds enabled schools to provide students with electronic devices and internet access necessary for students learning remotely to succeed.

Dr. Walter Kimbrough, president of Dillard University in New Orleans, said the student body of just over 1,200 was able to remain on campus in the throes of the pandemic.

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"We have a number of students that have food and housing insecurity," he said. "So you can be at home with unreliable internet access, with food housing insecurity, or you could be on campus where we could provide everybody for the most part with a single room and you got food access, and you got access to both WiFi and Ethernet. That was a better deal for everybody."

Dillard University received $12.7 million of the $211 million in HEERF funds granted to Louisiana HBCUs over the past year. Kimbrough said the latest funds distribution, combined with the federal 2020 CARES Act and additional coronavirus relief funds under the Trump administration, enabled university officials to do more than they might normally have been able to achieve.

"The last amount through the Biden administration is as big as the other two we got combined," he said. "It's even more than what we got in the previous administration in one time, so that was really good."

Dr. Michael Sorrell, President of Paul Quinn College in Dallas, said Biden's American Rescue Plan offered schools more flexibility. The college, which enrolled just over 550 students in 2019, received more than $8 million of the nearly $304 million granted to Texas HBCUs.

"We used (the money) to better serve our student population in a way that they needed it," Sorrell said. "So, some of (those needs) were facilities, some of them were needs-specific to each student. But they gave us the ability to really be good stewards of our student's space."

HEERF kept higher education affordable.

More than 4 out of 5 college and university presidents (81%) polled by ACE agreed on some level that HEERF funds allowed their institutions to keep tuition at pre-pandemic levels.

Coppin State University in Baltimore was able to offer its over 2,700 students a $1,200 reduction in tuition and fees for both the fall 2021 and spring 2022 semesters. The school also used relief funds to pay outstanding balances for some individual students that would have prevented them from registering for classes during the fall 2021 semester.

Dr. Anthony Jenkins, president of Coppin State, said that, though the university maximized the funds given, the school looks forward to continued support from Washington.

"We are sure the effects of the pandemic will be with us in the months and years to come, and we welcome any additional support to address those challenges,” Jenkins said in a statement.

HBCU Caucus shoots for continued funding

On the first anniversary of the American Rescue Plan, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona stated that HEERF began "closing longstanding equity gaps in higher education and help(ed) our colleges and universities invest in COVID-19 testing and campus safety, (kept) tuitions stable, and provide financially struggling students with direct assistance to stay enrolled."

But the status on more funding is up in the air since Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better infrastructure plan failed to pass Congress in January. The bill proposes billions in funding for HBCUs over several years, beginning in 2022.

The Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus, co-chaired by Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., a graduate of the HBCU North Carolina A&T State University, lobbied for a HEERF renewal during FY '22 appropriations.

In February, Adams and caucus member Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Wash., led a bipartisan letter to congressional leadership to urge expanding HEERF for HBCUs.

"HEERF funds have allowable uses for infrastructure improvements that are related to COVID-19. However, if an HBCU has an infrastructure request unrelated to the impacts of COVID-19, such as building a new set of classrooms, then this request would not be allowed," the letter states.

Biden signed a $1.5 trillion omnibus bill on March 15 that includes $363 million to assist HBCUs in institutional development, which is a $25 million increase from 'FY 2021.

Strickland's letter, signed by over 40 senators and House members, also mentioned the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act, which allows historically Black colleges to apply for grants to “strengthen the safety and security of" their campuses.

Members of the caucus have advocated for the 2021 bill to support the long-term improvement of HBCUs past the pandemic through grants. The measure is particularly relevant amid a rash of bomb threats targeting HBCU campuses.

Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., an HBCU Caucus member and cosponsor of the bill, said the act "will provide HBCU schools the financial resources necessary to undertake needed improvements to campus facilities that attract and launch future generations of students."

President Michael Sorrell of Paul Quinn College in Dallas said a one-time funding injection during the pandemic is not a "magic elixir."

"What this did, what this does, is to show you what would be possible if the equity truly existed," Sorrell said of funding disparities between HBCUs and other institutions. "This is a small step in the direction of a journey which absolutely needs to be taken."

Reach out to Chelsey Cox on Twitter at @therealco.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID aid helped historically Black colleges stay open. Now what?