Who Received Federal Emergency Aid Funding in Texas? A Closer Look at the Pandemic Funding Awarded to Postsecondary Students (2023)

Executive Summary More than 1 million Texas students received federal emergency aid through HEERF, nearly half (47%) of all students statewide based on enrollment figures reported by institutions. Despite having similar average amounts of unmet financial need, Texas students enrolled at public two-year colleges were less likely to receive emergency aid — and received smaller average award amounts — than students enrolled at public four-year universities. Across all institutions, Black students receiving aid were awarded higher average amounts of emergency aid than other racial/ethnic student groups. More than 450,000 Pell recipients — nearly 80% of all Pell recipients statewide — received emergency aid and were awarded significantly higher average amounts than non-Pell recipients. Nearly one-third of all non-Pell recipients — over 404,000 students — also received emergency aid. Across sectors, improved retention rates at the institution level were correlated with larger percentages of students receiving emergency aid. This correlation was consistently stronger for institutions with higher percentages of Pell recipients.