Schools Across U.S. Face Revenue Losses Approximately 2.5x Greater Than Federal Aid Provided During Health Crisis, Watchdog Analysis Finds

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Government watchdog Accountable.US released a new report — previewed today in The Hill — finding that among the largest universities or university systems in 44 states, 36 did not receive enough Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEERF) funding to cover reported COVID-induced revenue losses or budget cuts and shortfalls. Based on the universities’ most conservative projections: Of the 14 schools denoting estimated revenue losses or budget shortfalls for FY 2020, 10 received less than 50% of the funding needed to cover COVID-induced revenue losses or budget cuts and shortfalls.

The report comes as Congress continues to negotiate over the next major COVID-19 recovery package. Proposals offered to date would simply not cover the billions in shortfall in state university budgets across the country. Making matters worse, Senate Republicans have taken a hard line against providing state governments any additional discretionary funding that could be used to offset holes in the budget.

“As Trump’s Senate allies keep finding plenty of money to support wealthy corporations during the health crisis, they insist on shortchanging struggling schools, states, and local municipalities — even if it means making the student debt crisis worse. It’s priorities like these that put the economic recovery further out of reach,” said Kyle Herrig, president of government watchdog Accountable.US that has been monitoring CARES Act funding as part of its www.COVIDBailoutTracker.com project. 

Key Findings From The Report:  
  • In the 44 states reviewed, we found that the federal government provided between $2.8 – $3.3 billion LESS than needed to each state’s top university or university system to close the COVID-induced revenue losses or budget cuts and shortfalls.
  • Of the 14 schools denoting estimated revenue losses or budget shortfalls for FY 2020, 10 received less than 50% of the funding needed to cover COVID-induced revenue losses or budget cuts and shortfalls.
  • Of the 18 schools denoting estimated losses or budget shortfalls for FY 2021, 14 received less than 50% of the funding needed to cover COVID-induced revenue losses or budget cuts and shortfalls.

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