Public Research Universities Have Spent $14.5B on COVID Relief

An analysis by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities has found that public research universities had spent nearly $14.5 billion, or over 70 percent of the federal COVID-19 relief grant dollars they received, as of Dec. 31, 2021. This includes the nearly $10 billion from the first two pandemic relief bills—the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, as well as a substantial portion of the third round of funding that came from the American Rescue Plan Act. Funds were used to meet students’ basic needs, mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and shift to digital then hybrid instruction formats with unprecedented speed. Spending has continued this year.