Does Basic Needs Funding Improve Persistence Among College Students? Findings on How HEERF Dollars Impacted Student Persistence at SNHU (2023)

In October 2022, the Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice (CHEPP) published the first of a two-part series on the use and impact of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and the national challenge of accessing basic needs for today’s learners. The first paper, Basic Needs Funding for College Students: What SNHU Learned During the Pandemic, detailed learnings from SNHU’s distribution of $107 million in HEERF dollars to 51,257 qualified learners, a sample which represented a mere 7.6% application rate among potentially eligible students. Housing, food, and transportation were identified as the greatest basic needs challenges for learners based on an analysis of the data. This paper examines whether HEERF had a significant positive impact on learner persistence among a sample of learners from the initial population of HEERF recipients at SNHU (n=47,381). It includes data and analysis on the impact of emergency grants and basic needs programs on persistence for higher education students to inform national policy discussions related to expanding learner access to such supports. Key Takeaways +Three out of five learners among a national sample (n=195,000) experienced basic needs insecurities in Fall 2020 (The Hope Center, 2021). The national impact of unmet basic needs on college persistence and success is not yet quantifiable. However, there is evidence that unmet basic needs negatively impacts learner outcomes, making the basic needs support gap an urgent challenge facing higher education and our nation. +Data indicates that emergency grants contributed to learners’ academic persistence at SNHU. Students enrolled at SNHU who received HEERF emergency grants (n=47,381) were more likely to stay enrolled in the next term, when compared with control groups. Specifically, HEERF II recipients were 15.5% more likely to stay enrolled and HEERF III recipients were 8.6% more likely to stay enrolled. +As a result of these findings, SNHU approved funding to pilot an emergency grant program for learners in need. This pilot was conducted during the 2023 Spring and Summer terms. Findings from the pilot will be used to inform future projects related to this topic at SNHU.