This article is open to all free of cost, as the reporting for this entire series was made possible by a grant from the Poynter Institute with support from the Joyce Foundation.
Read all of our reporting on the American Rescue Plan Act’s impact in Ashland County here. If you have any questions for the reporter, send her an email at mariah@ashlandsource.com.
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ASHLAND — Ashland University received roughly $29.4 million in direct, federal aid during the coronavirus pandemic.
That figure, based on university-reported numbers, makes Ashland University the largest recipient of such funding in Ashland County.
Tracking each dollar and cent, however, seems nearly impossible. According to Andrew Geronimo, director of the first amendment clinic at Case Western Reserve University’s law school, the Ohio Public Records Act generally doesn’t apply to private entities, like Ashland University.
Plus, much of the money went straight into students’ pockets without oversight.
Generally speaking, though, the money went to helping the university deal with lost revenue. It provided emergency financial aid to students, according to reports filed with the federal government and interviews between Ashland Source and its vice president and chief financial officer, Marc Pasteris.
“As we were using these funds to support our students, we did it with the intention of knowing that we were spending taxpayer dollars and … we should be held accountable for how we’re spending those funds and that they were used directly and overall, at the end of the day, (to support) our students in every way we can,” Pasteris said.
But first, some context.
COVID relief money to universities fell into a specific fund, known as the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or HEERF. It had three iterations under three different federal laws.
HEERF I fell under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act; HEERF II fell under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act in 2021; and HEERF III fell under ARPA.
All of that money was meant to help students pay for college attendance and emergency costs, according to the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators. Institutions could also use the money to cover expenses from the COVID pandemic.
How’d AU spend its HEERF money?
All universities that received HEERF money had to turn in reports to the U.S. Department of Education. Those annual reports are publicly available through the U.S. Department of Education.
Pasteris shared with Ashland Source how much money the university received from HEERF between 2020-2022, and areas where it spent those funds.
The numbers Pasteris provided matched the totals reported to the U.S. Department of Education. However, when we independently verified those totals, we found AU spent an extra $143,322 in its student portion.
Pasteris did not respond to a request for comment about this discrepancy by the time of publication.
AU’s ARPA spending
According to the numbers Pasteris provided, Ashland University received nearly $29.4 million total from three separate iterations of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.
The school received over $16.9 million from HEERF III, the iteration that fell under the American Rescue Plan Act. Those funds were separated into a “student portion” and an “institutional portion.”
The table below shows the breakdown of AU’s funds, based on both the iteration of HEERF, and the student and institutional portions.
| HEERF I | HEERF II | HEERF III | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student portion | $1,993,858 | $1,993,858 | $8,640,620 | $12,628,336 |
| Institutional portion | $1,993,858 | $6,494,834 | $8,263,682 | $16,752,374 |
| Total | $3,987,716 | $8,488,692 | $16,904,302 | $29,380,710 |
The info box below shares a more detailed breakdown of how AU spent its student portion and institutional portion from all three HEERF iterations. The information is based on numbers Pasteris shared with Ashland Source.
Student portion
- Reimbursement to students for room and board — $3,089,731
- Direct financial assistance to students — $9,538,605
Institutional portion
- Restoration of employee compensation and benefits — $5,375,466
- Technology to support student learning — $890,000
- Lost revenue — $10,486,908
Pasteris said the university aimed to use the funds to support students’ health and well-being.
All the money AU received from HEERF I, II and III has been spent, Pasteris said. The U.S. Department of Education’s reporting portal confirms AU spent 100% of HEERF funds received.
So, what part of that came from ARPA?
Separating how AU spent the money received from each iteration of HEERF becomes trickier. That’s because reporting periods for HEERF II and HEERF III were both due between April and May of 2022.
So, the school’s 2021 report covered activities funded by HEERF between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2021.
There was also a reporting period for the 2022 calendar year, which took place between March 6 and 24, 2023. That report covered activities funded by any HEERF dollars between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2022.
Institutional portion
AU received $14,758,516 between HEERF II and HEERF III on its institutional portion. The lion’s share of that money — nearly 99% — went toward “lost revenue.”
According to the U.S. Department of Education, lost revenue “refers to those revenues an institution of higher education (institution) otherwise expected but were reduced or eliminated as a result of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.”
Schools can only estimate lost revenue, however. The Department of Education provided some guidance as to what those funds could go toward. Namely, it broke down into two categories: academic sources and auxiliary service sources.
(Below is a PDF of frequently asked questions from the U.S. Department of Education regarding lost revenue. Question 3 offers lists of sources of lost revenue reimbursable under the HEERF grant program.)
In 2021, AU reported spending $9,790,150 on lost revenue. That money was spent in the following categories:
- Room and board — $3,444,985
- Enrollment declines, including reduced tuition, fees and institutional charges — $5,280,710
- Auxiliary services sources — $524,455
AU’s 2022 report to the U.S. Department of Education showed the school spending $4,763,682 on lost revenue. That money broke down as follows:
- Room and board — $1,676,258.00
- Enrollment declines, including reduced tuition, fees and institutional charges — $2,832,235.00
- Auxiliary services sources — $255,189.00
“The purpose of the funds were to support the students during the challenging times we were experiencing as a country,” Pasteris said. “That’s how we utilized those funds — to really support the students and to allow us to support the students at the best level we could.”
The funds AU received for lost revenue addressed students who were taking their courses remotely, ensuring the school provided them with the resources they needed, he said. The university ramped up tutoring services and its health service, too.
The school’s 2021 report showed institutional expenditures also included $152,642 that went toward providing additional emergency financial-aid to students. The university spent another $2,042 conducting outreach to financial aid applicants who were eligible to receive financial-aid adjustments.
A final $50,000 went toward “implementing evidence-based practices to monitor and suppress coronavirus in accordance with public health guidelines.”
Click here to read about AU’s student portion.