A Better Formula for Higher Education’s Federal Coronavirus Funding

At $14 billion, the investment in operating support for higher education institutions from the coronavirus relief bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, is the largest one-year federal infusion of funds going straight to colleges since the Great Recession.1 That includes $6.2 billion each for institutional support and emergency financial aid for college students; $1 billion for minority-serving institutions; and about $350 million for colleges most affected by the pandemic. This report aims to explore ways of increasing, improving, and accelerating funding for higher education in the next stimulus package.