Higher Ed Pandemic Pain: $13 Billion in Losses

A new analysis from the Chronicle of Higher Education estimates that public and private colleges and universities lost a combined $13 billion in revenue in 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic was raging at its worst.

Data extracted from reports filed with the Department of Education show that much of the loss was offset with federal funding through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, with eight in 10 colleges used money from the relief fund to replace lost revenue.

The total amounts of lost revenue recovered through Heerf, by institution type.
Data: The Chronicle of Higher Education Graph: Canva

Of the roughly 2,400 public and private colleges that did so, The Chronicle said, public doctoral institutions reported the largest share of lost revenue replaced—$4.8 billion. That accounted for 37 percent of the claimed losses.

The analysis did not break out losses for individual institutions.

Posted June 5, 2023