Minority-Serving Institutions and the Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds: Federal Funding Allocations and Policy Considerations

Abstract Grappling with challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities faced the grim realities of serious budget shortfalls. The federal government responded with three waves of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF I, HEERF II, and HEERF III), which provided nearly $5 billion for all eligible Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI). This brief provides a descriptive analysis of the MSI provision of each HEERF by examining allocations across different MSIs, which reveal considerable distribution differences when comparing between two-year and four-year institutions, across designations, and per student at different MSIs. While shaped by the unique circumstances of the pandemic, this research facilitates a greater discussion of MSI funding policy among researchers, advocates, and policymakers by offering considerations for future equitable appropriations. The brief argues that a more nuanced approach to federal appropriations, which moves beyond the current and contentious proportional funding practice, is necessary. Furthermore, the brief contends that a more equitable approach to funding MSIs would require, at a minimum, for each MSI designation be funded independently of one another and, in doing so, account for their unique and respective histories, missions, needs, and characteristics.