[Senate Hearing 117-191]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                             S. Hrg. 117-191
 
                    COVID-19 RESPONSE AND RECOVERY:
                    SUPPORTING THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS
                    IN HIGHER EDUCATION & LESSONS ON
                       SAFELY RETURNING TO CAMPUS

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                                 OF THE

                    COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION,
                          LABOR, AND PENSIONS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                                   ON

 EXAMINING COVID-19 RESPONSE AND RECOVERY, FOCUSING ON SUPPORTING THE 
 NEEDS OF STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND LESSONS ON SAFELY RETURNING 
                               TO CAMPUS

                               __________

                             JUNE 17, 2021

                               __________

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                                 Pensions
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                
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                         ______
 
              U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 46-771  PDF          WASHINGTON : 2023
 
       
        
        
        
          COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS

                    PATTY MURRAY, Washington, Chair
BERNIE SANDERS (I), Vermont          RICHARD BURR, North Carolina, 
ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania       Ranking Member
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             RAND PAUL, M.D., Kentucky
CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut   SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
TIM KAINE, Virginia                  BILL CASSIDY, M.D., Louisiana
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
TINA SMITH, Minnesota                MIKE BRAUN, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  ROGER MARSHALL, M.D., Kansas
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado          MITT ROMNEY, Utah
                                     TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama
                                     JERRY MORAN, Kansas

                     Evan T. Schatz, Staff Director
               David P. Cleary, Republican Staff Director
                  John Righter, Deputy Staff Director
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                               STATEMENTS

                        THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2021

                                                                   Page

                           Committee Members

Murray, Hon. Patty, Chair, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
  and Pensions, Opening statement................................     1
Burr, Hon. Richard, Ranking Member, a U.S. Senator from the State 
  of North Carolina, Opening statement...........................     3
Cassidy, Hon. Bill, a U.S. Senator from the State of Louisiana, 
  statement......................................................     6

                               Witnesses

Copeland-Morgan, Youlanda, Vice Provost of Enrollment Management, 
  University of California, Los Angeles, CA......................     7
    Prepared statement...........................................     9
    Summary statement............................................    11
Verret, Reynold, President, Xavier University of Louisiana, New 
  Orleans, LA....................................................    11
    Prepared statement...........................................    13
    Summary statement............................................    21
Harris, Anthony, Student, Baldwin Wallace University, Berea, OH..    22
    Prepared statement...........................................    24
Pumariega, Madeline, President, Miami Dade College, Miami, FL....    26
    Prepared statement...........................................    27
    Summary statement............................................    30


                    COVID-19 RESPONSE AND RECOVERY:

                    SUPPORTING THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS


                    IN HIGHER EDUCATION & LESSONS ON

                       SAFELY RETURNING TO CAMPUS
                              ----------                              


                        Thursday, June 17, 2021

                                       U.S. Senate,
       Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 
430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Patty Murray, Chair 
of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Murray [presiding], Casey, Kaine, Hassan, 
Lujan, Hickenlooper, Burr, Cassidy, and Tuberville.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MURRAY

    The Chair. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions Committee will please come to order. Today, we are 
holding a hearing on supporting the needs of students in higher 
education during COVID-19 and safely returning to campus. 
Ranking Member Burr and I will each have an opening statement 
and then we will introduce today's witnesses. After the 
witnesses give their testimony, Senators will each have 5 
minutes for a round of questions.
    While we remain unable to have the hearing fully open to 
the public or media for in-person attendance, live video is 
available on our Committee website at help.senate.gov. And if 
you are in need of accommodations, including closed captioning, 
you can reach out to the Committee or the Office of 
Congressional Accessibility Services. This pandemic upended our 
education in so many different ways.
    Colleges and universities have had to close campuses and 
services, rapidly transitioned to online education and 
implemented critical public health measures, all while facing 
budget shortfalls. And overall spring enrollment fell to 16.9 
million from 17.5 million, marking a one-year decline of over 
600,000 students. Meanwhile, this pandemic has disrupted 
students, classrooms, and housing security, challenged their 
mental health, upended the economy, and created more 
uncertainty for students who are already struggling to pay for 
tuition and rent and food and other basic needs.
    The pandemic has also shown us how much college students 
are hanging on by a thread. The fact that students were food 
and housing insecure before the pandemic truly concerns me. And 
now these needs have only deepened. But the pandemic has also 
shown us the power of supporting communities. As colleges look 
to safely reopen this fall, there are many lessons we can draw 
on from institutions that are thoughtfully and safely 
reopening. The work to safely reopen must continue. Each 
college will need to take into the account of needs of 
students, faculty, staff and vulnerable populations as they 
bring back more people to campus.
    Colleges must continue to address students' academic 
health, including mental health and basic needs. The Federal 
relief funds provided to colleges was a powerful and important 
step forward. The University of Washington in my home state 
told my office the amount of emergency aid requests they are 
receiving is 20 times higher than what it was before the 
pandemic. A study from the University of North Carolina Chapel 
Hill found first year students reported significantly higher 
levels of depression and anxiety in the wake of the pandemic. 
What is more, 2 in 5 students report experiencing food 
insecurity, almost half report experiencing housing insecurity, 
and 1 in 6 report experiencing homelessness.
    We know this pain has not been felt equally. It has been 
hardest on historically under-resourced institutions like 
HBCUs, other minority serving institutions, and community 
colleges. It has been the hardest on students of color, 
families with low income, students with disabilities, LGBTQ 
students, rural students, veterans, and first generation 
college students, students who have always experienced 
inequities in our education system. That is why it was so 
important Congress take action. And while we have more work to 
do to see everyone through this crisis, we have been able to 
make student loan forgiveness, tax free, full stop and provide 
more than $76 billion in higher education emergency relief 
funds, including nearly $40 billion we passed as part of the 
American Rescue Plan.
    I have heard from so many people back in my state what a 
lifeline those funds have been for schools and students. 
Colleges have been able to use these funds to support 
vaccination efforts, secure personal protective equipment, 
purchase cleaning supplies, update technology for remote 
learning, and cover lost revenue. And perhaps most importantly, 
they have been able to provide students desperately needed 
direct financial support as they grapple with the fallout of 
this pandemic. Because of the pandemic, a student at Western 
Washington University is living in a tent with her children. 
Now she is receiving a major emergency aid because of that 
American Rescue Plan. An international student at Seattle 
College couldn't go home due to the pandemic, couldn't pay for 
their rent or food. Those funds are now helping them make ends 
meet.
    A student at Edmonds College was considering skipping 
spring quarter so she could afford to cremate and bury her 
father. Emergency financial aid meant she could keep her 
classes. And these are just a few of the many stories of the 
impact this funding is having on students. Whitcombe Community 
College has provided emergency funds to nearly 4,500 students. 
Clark College to 2,500 students. Washington State University 
nearly 10,000. And University of Washington has awarded aid to 
over 21,000 students. There are countless stories from Heritage 
University, Big Bend Community College, Wenatchee Valley 
College and other schools, and those are just the ones in my 
state.
    Millions more from across the country about what this aid 
has meant to students, how to help them afford tuition and 
books and food and housing and childcare and technology for 
remote learning, whatever it was they needed to continue their 
education. And I am pleased we have a student with us today, 
Anthony Harris from Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio, to 
share his own story. Anthony, thank you so much for being here. 
I hope we all take an important lesson away from this about the 
difference it makes when someone gets a helping hand during 
tough times. Students like Anthony and students like those 
whose stories I just shared are in many ways the future. And 
the schools they attend are foundational to local economies 
nationwide. Their success is critical to the success of our 
country and our communities.
    But if we truly want to help students succeed, we have to 
do more than simply return to normal. Because even before this 
pandemic, normal's price tag was far too expensive and out of 
reach for too many students. Normal left too many students 
hungry and homeless and hanging by a thread. It left them with 
historic amounts of student loan debt and with empty promises 
from predatory for profit colleges. Normal was systemic racial 
and economic inequities in higher education and an epidemic of 
sexual assault, harassment, and bullying on campuses. If this 
pandemic has taught us anything is that we have to do better 
than normal.
    That is why I worked with colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to make sure legislation we passed last year restored 
Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated individuals, students 
who have been defrauded, and students with drug related 
offenses. It is why we worked to provide relief for 
historically Black colleges and universities, and to better 
support working students, working families, students who are 
paid low incomes, and student parents. And it is why I am still 
pushing to do more. I am working to reverse the Trump 
administration's harmful Title IX rule, which made it so much 
harder for a student to report an incident of sexual assault or 
harassment and much easier for a school to just sweep it under 
the rug. Yesterday, I introduced legislation to double the 
maximum amount for Pell Grants and further expand Pell 
eligibility.
    I joined my Democratic colleagues to introduce legislation 
to make community college tuition free. Back in my state, the 
Seattle Promise Program is showing how supporting students with 
tuition free community college can strengthen communities, 
which is why the city is using COVID relief funds to expand 
this program and help it cover even more student needs because 
they understand this is how we help Seattle return from this 
pandemic stronger and fairer. We have a lot of work to do to 
make sure every single student has the opportunity to achieve a 
higher education in a safe environment free from debt.
    As we continue that work, I look forward to hearing from 
our witnesses today about what the pandemic can teach us about 
how we can get this done and working with my colleagues then to 
make it happen. With that, I will turn it over to Ranking 
Member Burr for his opening remarks.

                   OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BURR

    Senator Burr. Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me welcome our 
witnesses here today. And I would also like to highlight, Mr. 
Harris, thank you for being here. You are the only one that is 
providing testimony today that had their testimony in on time. 
So if your professors are listening, I hope you will get extra 
credit for the timeliness of your testimony. The full reopening 
of higher education system this fall is important. But I am 
very disappointed that we aren't focusing on reopening K 
through 12 schools for every student first.
    During the pandemic, many higher education institutions 
reopened by fall 2020 or converted to online education and 
hybrid models with relative ease. And we know the distance 
learning in higher education works better because we have seen 
it around the country for years. So I am not really sure that 
this is the right focus at this time. Congress gave $76 billion 
directly to higher education through three laws passed during 
the pandemic. So they have plenty of money. Yet as of the first 
week of June, $53 billion allocated to institutions remains 
unspent. That is 70 percent of the money still sitting, just 
waiting to go out the door.
    This makes me question if such institutions truly needed 
all this money. As former Harvard President Derek Boake noted 
almost two decades ago, ``Universities share one characteristic 
with compulsive gamblers and exiled royalty.'' ``There is never 
enough money to satisfy their desires.'' With all this free 
money, I am really concerned about the lack of accountability 
that it brings to higher education. The four-year graduation 
rate for a four-year degree is just 52 percent, according to 
the National Center for Education Statistics. We kid ourselves 
and have decided to talk about the six-year graduation rate 
instead, but that is just 62 percent completion rate. Show a 
lot of moms and dads and potential grads about our expectations 
for completion and then we lower those expectations so that 62 
percent is somehow comforting.
    Where I am from 62 percent is a D. I guess D stands for 
diploma. Yet tuitions keep rising. Tuition fees at 4 year 
private schools jumped 44 percent over the past decade--55 
percent at 4 year public schools. In some, graduation rates are 
terrible, tuitions up, and debt is soaring. Democrats have 
refused to engage in the serious conversation about steps to 
change this trend. Instead, they want to talk about it, how to 
throw more money at the same problem as if new Government 
programs will somehow solve the problems of the last 30--the 
last 30 Government programs created. Make college free, cancel 
debt may be good talking points, but back home in North 
Carolina, we have already made community college very 
affordable.
    In West Virginia and Arizona, they have made community 
college tuition less than the average Pell Grant. I am not sure 
these so-called solutions make a lot of sense, and I don't 
think we should reward states like California and Massachusetts 
with their sky high community college tuitions and give them a 
bunch of new taxpayer money. On top of that, colleges and 
universities are themselves becoming more and more isolated 
from reality with regular assaults on free speech and returning 
to segregated programing such as race specific graduation 
ceremonies and woke counseling sessions. Plus, institutions are 
harming society with near communist style indoctrination that 
any idea that is offered that offends you must be banned from 
the classrooms, or at least any idea that offends if you are a 
liberal, I should say.
    Then there is the threat from China. Too many institutions 
of higher education rely on students from China paying full 
tuition to pad their books. But then these same institutions 
don't understand the concerns about efforts by China's 
Government to steal our intellectual property and subvert our 
research base. That business model needs to change, and 
universities need to take the threat from China much more 
seriously. Some are still toying with student debt forgiveness 
schemes that is breaking--breathtaking in its embrace of 
reckless financial responsibility and has zero regard for the 
deep moral hazard that we are creating for borrowers, 
institutions, and taxpayers.
    The Biden administration still hasn't released any plan for 
returning to loan repayments this October, despite the fact 
that each year of the loan pause cost taxpayers more than the 
annual budget of Pell Grants. All adults have had the chance to 
get vaccinated and to get back to work. There is no reason to 
extend the nonpayment at this point. I agree that there should 
be a discussion about helping people who don't earn enough to 
make full payment. There is a bipartisan solution that I have 
worked with Angus King called the Repay Act. We are ready to 
get the work if only someone from the White House would pick up 
the phone and call. You should have my number, but if you 
don't, burr.senate.gov will give you my telephone number. But 
back to the elephant in the room.
    We aren't--why aren't we having a discussion on K through 
12 reopening? Are we concerned what the teachers union will say 
if we demand that schools fully reopen this fall? Last year, 
Republicans were blocked in our efforts to demand school 
reopening. Will we be blocked again and when unions say that 
they don't want to go back to school this fall? Science tells 
us that children are much less likely than adults to experience 
severe illnesses as the result of COVID-19. Science tells us 
that teachers can be safely vaccinated.
    Thanks to Operation Warp Speed, BARDA, FDA, we got safe and 
effective vaccines approved in record time, and every adult in 
this country, including every teacher, has had plenty of time 
to get vaccinated at this point. Science tells us that children 
over 12 can be vaccinated, and hopefully this fall and winter 
the vaccines will be approved for younger children as well. And 
until then, we know the steps to take to keep everyone safe for 
in-person learning. So there is no excuse for schools not to 
fully reopen this fall.
    Today, we will hear about the very troubling mental health 
consequences of a pandemic on college students who hadn't--had 
more opportunity to get back to the classroom than America's 
school children. So what do we know about younger students who 
saw massive surges in anxiety, depression because of 
unnecessary school closings? As of April, less than half of all 
fourth grade Black, Hispanic, Asian, economically 
disadvantaged, and English earning students were in fully in-
person learning.
    As of April, less than half of all eighth grade students 
nationwide were enrolled for fully in-person learning, and less 
than a third of all Black, Hispanic and Asian eighth graders 
were in fully in-person learning. Emergency department visits 
for suspected suicide attempts were up 22 percent in the summer 
of 2020, 39 percent in the winter of 1921 for children age 12 
to 17. Since the science shows us and schools can open safely, 
it is on the adults, the unions, school boards, superintendents 
that make decisions to keep them closed. Most of our country's 
private schools stayed open. They made plans. They followed the 
science. They serve their children far better than the public 
system.
    I strongly encourage every Member of this Committee to read 
a powerful Op-ed in yesterday's New York Times by Ms. Lelac 
Almagor about her experience teaching this last year in a 
charter school in Washington, DC. She speaks powerfully about 
the harm done by school closures to children. She speaks about 
the power of education. It is an eloquent essay. It is elegant 
an essays as I have ever read, and I hope all of you will take 
the time to read it and to reflect on it as well.
    Madam Chair, I yield back.
    The Chair. Thank you, Senator Burr. And I assure you this--
we agree opening our K through 12 schools is an incredibly 
important issue. It is a goal of everyone I know on my side as 
well as yours. And I intend to work with you to have a 
reopening on K through 12 schools as we get closer to the fall 
when schools are actually going to be back in session. So I 
look forward to working with that. I know we are seeing a lot 
more students in--back in schools, including my granddaughters, 
which I am delighted about. And I know we all share that goal.
    With that, we will now introduce today's witnesses. 
Youlonda Copeland-Morgan is the Vice Provost of Enrollment 
Management at the University of California, Los Angeles. She 
oversees the university's offices of graduate--of undergraduate 
admission, financial aid and scholarships, strategic 
partnerships, and community engagement, and the early academic 
outreach program.
    Vice Provost Copeland Morgan, welcome. Thank you for 
joining us today. With that, I am going to turn over to my 
colleague, Senator Cassidy, who will introduce President 
Reynold Verret.

                      STATEMENT OF SENATOR CASSIDY

    Senator Cassidy. Thank you, Madam Chair. It is my pleasure 
to introduce a man I consider as a friend, Dr. Reynold Verret, 
the sixth President of Louisiana's Xavier University, 
Historically Black College and University in New Orleans. Dr. 
Verret is a leader. He has been a leader throughout the 
pandemic, pioneering the way to reopen schools and universities 
safely, providing students the opportunity to learn in a way 
best suited to their needs and circumstances.
    Under Dr. Verret's leadership, Xavier continues to be a top 
feeder school in the Nation, producing African-American 
physicians. He has increased Xavier's freshman enrollment by 21 
percent and improve retention rates by 3 percent. He is an 
accomplished biochemist and immunologist, participating in 
COVID-19 vaccine trials, and has been an advocate for 
vaccination of all in my state. From the start of the pandemic 
Dr. Verret Xavier worked with local health agencies and 
hospitals to host mobile testing centers and to set up a fully 
operational COVID-19 testing lab to serve local communities and 
to serve Xavier.
    Before joining Xavier, Dr. Verret was a Provost at Savannah 
State and Welch Universities, as a Dean at the University of 
the Sciences in Philadelphia, as faculty and Department Chair 
of Chemistry at Tulane and at Clark Atlanta University, and as 
an Adjunct Professor of Immunology at the Tulane and Morehouse 
School of Medicine. He has also conducted cancer research at 
MIT. Dr. Verret's leadership over these past few months in 
reopening Xavier and leading his community has been impressive.
    With his background, Dr. Verret understands the science 
behind the virus and the pandemic. And because of this, he made 
the decision to reopen Xavier to allow students to be educated 
in person. He knows the benefits for students on the individual 
level and on the community level that outweigh the risk 
associated with reopening. By the way, he also kind of, if I 
may, thought about the social aspect, restarting baseball at 
Xavier, which had not been there for 60 years.
    Xavier not only reopened and not only gave students and 
community a sense of normalcy, they had a great season with 27-
11, made it to the Black College World Series championship. But 
universities like Xavier have shown us the path forward as to 
how to reopen colleges and universities safely while giving 
students the education and learning environment they deserve. 
With that, I yield.
    The Chair. Thank you, Senator Cassidy. Hi, Dr. Verret. I 
appreciate you joining us today as well. Next, I will introduce 
Anthony Harris, who you already heard, got his testimony in on 
time. We appreciate that. He is a senior at Baldwin Wallace 
University. He is pursuing a bachelor's degree in fine arts. 
Mr. Harris is also a resident assistant on his campus and a 
member of the Black Student Alliance.
    Mr. Harris, again, thank you for joining us to share your 
personal experience and to speak about some of the challenges 
that students have been facing during this pandemic. We are 
very glad to have you with us today. Finally, Madeline 
Pumariega--Pumariega, did I say it correctly, Pumariega? Is the 
first woman to become President of Miami-Dade College, a 
position she has held since November 2020.
    Before that, she was the Executive Vice President and 
Provost of Tallahassee Community College. And in both of those 
positions, she has played a key role in seeing students through 
this pandemic. We are glad to have you with us. We look forward 
to your testimony. And with that, we will begin with Vice 
President Copeland-Morgan. You may begin your opening 
statement.

    STATEMENT OF YOULONDA COPELAND-MORGAN, VICE PROVOST OF 
 ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES, 
                               CA

    Ms. Copeland-Morgan. Thank you, Chair Murray, Ranking 
Member Burr and Members of the Committee for inviting me to 
appear before you today. I appreciate the opportunity to 
provide testimony on the significant impact of the 
congressionally approved higher education emergency relief 
funds known as HEERF. The funds enabled students to continue 
their education just when their dreams of a college degree 
seemed shattered by COVID-19.
    HEERF funds also proved to be a powerful investment in the 
recovery and growth of our economy. My testimony will address 
why the end of COVID-19 does not mean that the need for 
increased Federal financial aid will end. There will not be a 
return to normal for students in public universities and 
community colleges. The needs of students may change, but they 
will not diminish. In fact, the opposite is true. To help meet 
these needs, the University of California system has not 
increased tuition for the last 8 years.
    Also, in 2019, 1920, the State of California awarded $950 
million in state grants, and the UC system awarded $800 million 
in need based grants to undergraduate students, compared to the 
$400 million in Federal Pell Grants. Despite these efforts, 
funding from the state and the UC system, along with generous 
philanthropy--it is not sufficient to meet needs--students' 
basic needs for food, adequate housing, health care, affordable 
transportation, and other emergency needs. Federal financial 
aid will continue to be critical in providing a college 
education to students who are the future engine of the 
country's economic growth.
    In March 2020, when COVID-19 cases began to rise 
dramatically in Los Angeles, UCLA closed. Students, especially 
from low income, rural, and underserved communities had 
difficulty studying remotely without computers, Internet 
service, or other basic technologies. Students from low and 
middle income families tried to find work to help their 
families pay the bills and to keep food on the table. Anyone 
who watched television and saw the long lines of cars with 
people waiting to get boxes of food for their family knows how 
widespread food insecurity is. The Federal Government helped by 
allowing universities flexibility in the Federal work study 
program.
    We created new jobs that students could do remotely. We 
gave students their Federal work study payments in the form of 
grants if they were unable to find work. Thank you for this 
flexibility. HEERF funds authorized by Congress were indeed a 
lifeline. At UCLA from April 2020 to March 2021, CARES, HEERF I 
grant of nearly $18 million were awarded to 22,695 students to 
cover specific pandemic related expenses. They provided need 
based grants to all students with a particular focus on Pell 
Grant and middle income families. In early June 2021, UCLA 
awarded HEERF II grants of $17.3 million to over 13,000 
students. An additional 600,000 will be awarded throughout the 
summer. The process of awarding the American Rescue Plan HEERF 
III funds, exceeding $46 million, is already underway.
    Without HEERF funds, the post pandemic COVID future would 
be extremely challenging for higher education institutions. 
HEERF funds enabled students to continue their education, 
graduate on time, and work toward their dream of a college 
degree. HEERF funds have an even greater lasting impact. They 
are an investment in the country's economic recovery and 
growth. Research shows that as workers' educational attainment 
rises, unemployment rates decrease and earnings increase, and 
as earnings increase, tax revenues also increase.
    Importantly, college graduates provide Governments with a 
disproportionate share of tax revenue. Now, at UCLA, we are 
eagerly looking to the future. When UCLA opens in September, 
two new entering classes will arrive on campus at the same 
time, the class of fall 2020 and the class of fall 1921. They 
will become a part of UCLA 43,000 student body. With your 
ongoing support, UCLA's graduation rate will continue to be 
higher than most colleges and universities across the Nation. 
We are extremely proud of our most recent undergraduates as 
they upheld our extraordinary record of achieving a four-year 
graduation rate of 84.2 percent.
    After this terrible year, the future finally looks bright 
again for our Nation's students. They need and deserve our 
support. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Copeland-Morgan follows:]
             prepared statement of youlonda copeland-morgan
    Thank you, Chair Murray, Ranking Member Burr and Members of the 
Committee for inviting me to appear before you today as you review how 
colleges and universities have supported students using Federal relief 
funds during COVID-19.

    My name is Youlonda Copeland-Morgan and I am the Vice Provost for 
Enrollment Management at the University of California, Los Angeles 
(UCLA). In this capacity, I oversee the offices of Undergraduate 
Admission, Financial Aid and Scholarships, Strategic Partnerships and 
Community Engagement, as well as the nearly one-billion dollar 
financial aid and scholarship budget for UCLA's undergraduate, graduate 
and professional schools. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before 
you today and provide testimony on the significant impact of the 
congressionally provided Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds, known 
as HEERF.

    These funds enabled students to continue their education and pursue 
their dreams of a college degree just when that dream seemed shattered 
by COVID-19. HEERF funds will also prove to be a powerful investment in 
the recovery and growth of our economy. Research has proven that higher 
education leads to increased earnings, lower unemployment and higher 
tax revenues.

    My testimony will also address why the end of COVID-19 does not 
mean that the need for increased Federal financial aid will end. There 
will not be a return to normal for students in public universities and 
community colleges. The needs of students may change, but they will not 
diminish. In fact, the opposite is true.

    Recently, a November 2020 report from the University of California 
Regents' Special Committee on Basic Needs acknowledged that ``basic 
needs insecurity . . . has pervaded universities nationwide for 
decades.''

    Over the past several years, colleges and universities have 
increased their efforts to meet these needs. For example, the 
University of California system (UC) has not increased tuition for the 
last 8 years. Also, the UC system and the state of California have 
awarded substantial financial aid in the form of institutional and 
state aid to qualifying students. In 2019-2020, the state of California 
awarded $950 million in state grants, and the UC system awarded $800 
million in need-based grants to undergraduate students, compared to 
$400 million in Federal Pell Grants. The Regents' Special Committee 
also estimated that the UC system's efforts to help meet students' 
basic needs supported an estimated minimum number of 40,000 students in 
the 2019-2020 academic year.

    Despite these efforts, and families' willingness to contribute to 
their students' college education, funding from the State of California 
and the UC system, along with generous philanthropy, is not sufficient 
to meet students' basic needs for food, adequate housing, healthcare, 
affordable transportation and other emergency needs. Federal financial 
aid will continue to be critical to help colleges and universities 
provide a college education to the students who are the future engine 
of the country's economic growth.

    In March 2020, when Covid-19 cases began to rise substantially in 
Los Angeles, UCLA closed. Students, especially from low-income, rural 
and other underserved communities, had difficulty studying remotely 
without computers, internet service or other basic technology. Students 
from low-and middle-income families tried to find work to help their 
families pay their bills and put food on the table. Anyone who watched 
television and saw long lines of cars with people waiting to get boxes 
of food for their family knows how widespread food insecurity was at 
the beginning of the pandemic.

    The Federal Government helped by allowing the University 
flexibility in our work-study programs that are required for some 
students to receive additional financial aid. We were encouraged to 
create different types of jobs that students could do remotely. We were 
also allowed to give students their work-study payments if they tried, 
but were unable, to find work. It's important to know that our students 
preferred to work, but the pandemic made it extremely difficult for 
them to find jobs they could do from home.

    I want to thank you for this flexibility. It made a big difference 
for many students and helped the University with retention so students 
could complete their education.

    However, even with this support, many students had to drop out of 
college. According to a Los Angeles Times article, dated June 10, 2021, 
California had the largest drop in college enrollment numbers in the 
Nation from Spring 2020 to Spring 2021. The state's overall community 
college and university enrollment dropped by about 123,000 students or 
5.3 percent.
    https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-10/california-has-
the-largest-drop-in-spring-college-enrollment-numbers-in-the-nation.

    These conditions would have gotten even worse if Congress had not 
taken action to help higher education institutions meet their students' 
basic and pandemic-driven emergency needs. The HEERF funds authorized 
by Congress were indeed a lifeline.

    At UCLA, from April 2020 through March 2021, the Coronavirus Aid, 
Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) HEERF I grants of nearly $18 
million were awarded to 22,695 students. These grants covered specific 
pandemic-related expenses and provided need-based grants to 
undergraduate, graduate and professional students, with a particular 
focus on Pell Grant and middle-income families, and those facing higher 
than expected housing and technology costs.

    Upon notification of HEERF II funds, UCLA immediately began to 
determine eligibility for these grants. In early June, 2021, UCLA 
awarded HEERF II student grants of $17.3 million to over 13,000 
students to date. An additional $600,000 will be awarded to address 
ongoing student financial aid appeals throughout summer enrollments.

    The process is already underway for awarding the American Rescue 
Plan (ARP) HEERF III funds exceeding $46 million dollars for the Fall 
2021-2022 academic year. These funds will be used to address parental 
unemployment, changes in student income and other pandemic related 
costs.

    Without HEERF funds, the post-pandemic future would have been 
extremely challenging for higher education institutions, students, 
families, communities and our country. HEERF funds were . . . and 
continue to be . . . extremely important. They enable students to 
continue their education, graduate on time and work toward their dreams 
of a college degree.

    HEERF funds have an even more lasting impact. They are an 
investment in the country's economic recovery and growth. In May 2020, 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics published a report that said it well. 
The headline was ``Learn more, earn more: Education leads to higher 
wages, lower unemployment.'' The report went on to say that ``As 
workers' educational attainment rises, their unemployment rates 
decrease and earnings increase.''

    Other research has demonstrated that as earnings increase, tax 
revenues to governments also increase. In 2015 the Association of 
Public & Land Grant Universities, including UCLA, published a fact 
sheet entitled How Do College Graduates Benefit Society At Large? 
https://www.aplu.org/projects-and-initiatives/college-costs-tuition-
and-financial-aid/publicuvalues/publicuvalues-resources/q4/
GradsSociety.pdf.

    This publication affirmed that college graduates provide 
governments with a disproportionate share of tax revenues. Moreover, it 
stated that ``Over a lifetime, bachelor's degree holders contribute 
$381,000 more in taxes than they receive in benefits.'' This 
contribution is likely to have grown even bigger over the last 6 years 
since the report was published.

    Now, at UCLA, we are eagerly looking to the future.

    When UCLA opens in September, two new entering classes will arrive 
on campus at the same time, the class of Fall 2020 and the new class of 
Fall 2021. They will become part of UCLA's 43,000 undergraduate, 
graduate and professional students.

    With your ongoing support, along with support from the state of 
California and the UC system, UCLA's graduation rate will continue to 
be higher than the average graduation rate of similarly situated 
colleges and universities across the Nation. We are extremely proud of 
our most recent graduating class that entered UCLA in 2016 and 
graduated at the end of the 2019-20 academic year. They upheld our 
extraordinary record, especially for a public institution, by achieving 
a four-year graduation rate of 84.2 percent.

    After this terrible year, the future finally looks bright again for 
students who dream of graduating from college and creating productive 
lives for themselves, their families and their communities.

    They need . . . and deserve. . . all the help we can give them to 
become the future our country needs. Thank you and now I'll be happy to 
answer any questions you may have.
                                 ______
                                 
            [summary statement of youlonda copeland-morgan]
    The congressionally provided Higher Education Emergency Relief 
Funds (HEERF) have been an extraordinary lifeline for college and 
university students facing basic needs for food, housing, healthcare, 
transportation and other emergencies during the pandemic. They have 
enabled students to continue their education just when their dreams of 
a college degree seemed shattered by COVID-19.

    Over the past few years, colleges and universities have increased 
efforts to meet students' basic needs. For example, the University of 
California system (UC) has not increased tuition for the last 8 years. 
Also, in 2019-2020, the state of California awarded $950 million in 
state grants, and the UC system awarded $800 million in need-based 
grants to undergraduate students, compared to $400 million in Federal 
Pell Grants.

    Despite these efforts, this funding has not been sufficient. 
Federal financial will continue to be critical to provide a college 
education to students who are the future engine of the country's 
economic growth.

    In March, 2020, UCLA closed when Covid-19 cases were rising rapidly 
in Los Angeles. Students, especially from low-income, rural and other 
underserved communities, as well as middle-income families burdened 
with debt, had difficulty studying remotely without computers, internet 
service, or family income to provide food for their families or pay 
bills.

    HEERF funds have provided crucial financial aid. At UCLA, from 
April 2020 through March 2021, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and 
Economic Security Act (CARES) HEERF I grants of nearly $18 million were 
awarded to 22,695 students. These grants covered pandemic-related 
expenses and provided need-based grants to undergraduate, graduate and 
professional students, with a particular focus on Pell Grant and 
middle-income families, and those facing higher than expected housing 
and technology costs.

    Upon notification of HEERF II funds, UCLA immediately began to 
determine eligibility for these grants. In early June, 2021, UCLA 
awarded HEERF II student grants of $17.3 million to over 13,000 
students to date. An additional $600,000 will be awarded to address 
financial aid appeals throughout summer enrollments.

    The process is already underway for awarding the American Rescue 
Plan (ARP) HEERF III funds exceeding $46 million dollars for the Fall 
2021-2022 academic year. These funds will be used to address parental 
unemployment, changes in student income and other pandemic related 
costs.

    HEERF funds have provided crucial financial aid to students during 
the pandemic. They are also an investment in the country's economic 
recovery and growth. Research has demonstrated that as educational 
levels rise, earnings increase, unemployment rates decrease, and taxes 
revenues increases. Specifically, college graduates provide governments 
with a disproportionate share of tax revenues.

    When UCLA opens in September, the two entering classes of Fall 2020 
and Fall 2021 will become part of UCLA's 43,000 undergraduate, graduate 
and professional student body. After this terrible year, the future 
finally looks bright for them. They need . . . and deserve . . . all 
the help we can give them to meet their basic needs.
                                 ______
                                 
    The Chair. Thank you very much.
    President Verret.

 STATEMENT OF REYNOLD VERRET, PRESIDENT, XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF 
                   LOUISIANA, NEW ORLEANS, LA

    Dr. Verret. Chair Patty Murray, Ranking Member Richard 
Burr, Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity 
to testify today. I am Reynold Verret, Xavier University's 
sixth President. My institution is a historically Black 
university, an HBCU. It is also a Catholic institution. The 
ultimate purpose of Xavier is to contribute to the promotion of 
a more just and humane society by having its students assume 
roles of leadership and service in the global society.
    This preparation takes place in diverse learning 
environments that include research and community service. I was 
asked to testify before the Committee today about how Xavier 
has employed and utilized Federal funds, relief funds passed by 
Congress as a result of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. I will 
speak for my institution, but you may infer from any of my 
comments it also applies to 100 other HBCUs in this country. I 
began discussing the COVID-19 virus with my leadership team in 
late January 2020, and soon after my team began planning for 
the eventuality that possibly this virus might reach our 
shores.
    On February 25th, 2020, we had Mardi Gras in New Orleans, 
one of our iconic celebrations. On April 2nd, there were 725 
cases of COVID-19 in Orleans Parish, population 391,000 
roughly. Further, I began to note what the data would later 
prove to us, that the health disparities that we have always 
known that had ravaged African-American communities throughout 
this country had been exacerbated and now were being revealed 
to us in special ways. Working class African-Americans, 
especially these people who are at the center of the vigor and 
the identity of the city of New Orleans, would be bearing the 
larger burden of disease.
    On campus, I created a task force to consider following 
options that we had to consider for the spring 2020 semester. 
One option was to actually continue face to face instruction if 
we could. The other was remote instructions, vacating the 
campus, sending people home. Our administration ultimately 
decided to offer instruction remotely, and for the 2020 spring 
semester, continue this into the summer. In the fall semester, 
return to mixed modalities in person on campus with special 
public health considerations. The majority of instruction took 
place in person, and we had a hybrid instructor for some 
students which allowed them some choices as to their preferred 
mode of instructions.
    The university redoubled especially efforts for academic 
support, attending to the students' physical and also emotional 
needs for those students present on campus and also those who 
remained at home. All rooms at our residential facilities 
became single occupancy. 44 percent of our students normally 
live on campus, about 1,390 students. Xavier, nonetheless, is 
fortunate not to have had layoffs. However, we did maintain the 
hiring freeze, which we just released recently. Xavier will 
fully repopulate the campus for fall 2021, with students, 
faculty, and staff resuming the forms of instruction and 
interactions that were common to us before the pandemic.
    Nonetheless, will have modified public health policies and 
behavioral policies on campus. We can speak to those at another 
point. I would be remiss if I did not thank the Congress, 
including Members of this Committee, for passing last year's 
Congressional H.R. 1748, the Coronavirus Aid Relief and 
Economic Security Act, and also H.R. 133, the Consulting 
Appropriations Act of 2020, and also H.R. 1319 passed by this 
Congress, the American Recovery Act. Because of the CARES Act, 
Xavier has access to a total of $37 million in direct 
allocations from Section 18004(a)(1) and Sections (a)(2) of the 
bill.
    Noting that our students are enduring tough economic times 
that present unique challenges, most especially students of 
color, many of the economic activities of our students have 
changed in the past November 2019 because of family situations. 
With that being said, I would like to thank Congress especially 
for providing additional allocations of $1.054 billion, $1.7 
billion, and $2.98 billion to historically Black colleges and 
universities, tribal colleges and universities, and also 
minorities serving institutions. Additionally, I would like to 
thank the Congress for targeted debt relief to institutions 
through the HBCU Capital Finance Program of 2020, through the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act.
    Many schools benefited, but I would note, I would say that 
Xavier along with nine other HBCUs benefited only in a marginal 
way because the funds--the relief was predicated upon funding 
already obligated at the time of the signing of the bill. I am 
also grateful of the funding which benefited our students 
population directly that has helped. The majority of our 
students are Black Americans. Black Americans are 
disproportionately affected by the pandemic. If the majority of 
our students are disproportionately affected, so is a 
university like ourselves, and many of my sister HBCUs.
    Last, I have three recommendations that I would raise to 
the Committee, provide permanent relief for the HBCU Capital 
Finance Program for the remaining HBCUs which were not eligible 
in the December 2020 action. Two, clearly doubling Pell is very 
important for those who are struggling with the cost of the 
higher education and coming from low income families and 
backgrounds.
    Third, support school administration plans which include 
HBC priorities such as those of the jobs and infrastructure, 
family plans in the president's budget, especially the $409 
million line item in the Title III strengthening the HBC 
programs. I want to thank you. Thank you very much.

    [The prepared statement of Dr. Verret follows:]
                  prepared statement of reynold verret
                              Introduction
    Chair Murray, Ranking Member Richard Burr, and Members of the 
Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

    My name is C. Reynold Verret, and I serve as the 6th President of 
Xavier University of Louisiana (Xavier). Xavier was founded by Saint 
Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. My 
institution is Catholic and a historically Black college and university 
(HBCU).

    The ultimate purpose of Xavier is to contribute to the promotion of 
a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume 
roles of leadership and service in a global society. This preparation 
takes place in diverse learning and teaching environments that 
incorporate all relevant educational means, including research and 
community service.

    I was asked to testify before the Committee today on how Xavier, as 
an HBCU, has employed and utilized the Federal relief funds passed by 
Congress as a result of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. As you know, 
HBCUs were created as early as 1837 to provide African Americans access 
to higher education. Noted for their contributions in educating 
``Black, low-income and educationally disadvantaged Americans,'' the 
101 HBCUs today constitute the class of institutions that satisfy the 
statutory definition of the term ``HBCU'' as defined in the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (HEA).

    Under my leadership, Xavier continues to be the No. 1 feeder school 
in the country in producing Black doctors, according to the Association 
of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Xavier educates a major portion of 
Black students heading to medical school, with Howard University as our 
nearest competitor, and dwarfs efforts of the Ivy League and large 
state, research intensive universities. From 2013 to 2018, 147 Xavier 
African-American graduates completed medical school. In the past 4 
years, again under my leadership there has been an almost 21 percent 
increase in first-year students and retention grew by 3 percent. Xavier 
is indeed exemplary, but it is also an example of what HBCUs can and 
have been doing. Structurally, we educate a much larger fraction of 
African-American talent. We are producing talent that the Nation needs.
                      HBCU History and Statistics
    Before I share how Xavier is preparing to reopen in the Fall 
semester and the unique challenges caused by the virus named ``SARS-
CoV-2'' causing a disease named ``coronavirus disease 2019'' (COVID-
19), \1\ it is imperative that we all understand the history of HBCUs 
to better understand how COVID-19 impacts these institutions 
exponentially.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\  U.S. Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention. (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19). Retrieved 
from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/
index.html.

    HBCUs were created as early as 1837 to provide African Americans 
access to higher education. Noted for their contributions in educating 
Black, low-income, and educationally disadvantaged Americans, the 101 
accredited HBCUs today constitute the class of institutions that 
satisfy the statutory definition of the term ``HBCU'' as defined in the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\  The definition of an HBCU can be found in Section 322(2) of 
the HEA.

    HBCUs disproportionately enroll low-income, first-generation and 
academically underprepared college students--precisely the students 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
that the country most needs to obtain college degrees. In 2018:

          Nearly 300,000 students attended HBCUs; \3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\  U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 
Statistics. (2020). Digest of education statistics 2019 [Table 313.20]. 
Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19-
313.20.asp.

          More than 75 percent of HBCU students were African 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Americans; and

          Over 60 percent of undergraduate students at HBCUs 
        received Federal Pell Grants, and over 60 percent of these 
        students received Federal loans. \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\  UNCF Public Policy and Government Affairs calculations using 
2018 data from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for 
Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. 
Data shows that out of 257,451 total undergraduate students at HBCUs, 
159,101 students were receiving Pell Grants and 162,179 students were 
receiving Federal loans.

    HBCUs comprised 3 percent of all two-and four-year non-profit 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
colleges and universities, yet they:

          Enroll 10 percent of African American undergraduates;

          Produce 17 percent of all African American college 
        graduates with bachelor's degrees; and

          Graduate 24 percent of African Americans with 
        bachelor's degrees in STEM fields. \5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\  AUNCF Patterson calculations using U.S. Department of 
Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated 
Postsecondary Education Data System.

    A 2015 Gallup survey confirms that HBCUs are providing African 
American students with a better college experience than African 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
American students at other colleges and universities.

          55 percent of African American HBCU graduates say 
        their college prepared them well for post-college life versus 
        29 percent for African American graduates of other 
        institutions. \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\  Gallup, Inc. (2015). Gallup-USA funds minority college 
graduates report. Retrieved from UNCF Website: https://www.uncf.org/wp-
content/uploads/PDFs/USA-Funds-Minority-Report-GALLUP-2.pdf.

    HBCUs attained these results at an affordable price for students--
that is, the cost of attendance at HBCUs is about 30 percent lower, on 
average, than other colleges--despite limited operating budgets and 
endowments that are roughly half the typical size of other four-year 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
public and private non-profit colleges and universities.

    Since our founding, HBCUs have been, and continue to be, under-
resourced institutions. An issue brief produced by ACE (American 
Council on Education) and UNCF (United Negro College Fund, Inc.) 
revealed the following:

          Public HBCUs rely more heavily on Federal, state, and 
        local funding in comparison with their non-HBCU counterparts 
        (54 percent of overall revenue vs 38 percent);

          Private HBCUs depend somewhat more on tuition dollars 
        than their non-HBCUs counterparts (45 percent compared with 37 
        percent);

          Private gifts, grants, and contracts constitute a 
        smaller portion of overall revenue at private HBCUs compared to 
        their non-HBCU counterparts (17 percent vs 25 percent);

          Public and Private HBCUs experienced the largest 
        declines in Federal funding per full-time equivalent student 
        between 2003-2015; and

          In both the public and private sectors, HBCU 
        endowments lag behind those of non-HBCUs by at least 70 
        percent. \7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\  Williams, K.L. & Davis, B.L. (2019). Public and private 
investments and divestments in historically Black colleges and 
universities. Retrieved from American Council on Education Website: 
https://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Public-and-Private-Investments-
and-Divestments-in-HBCUs.aspx.

    Despite being under-resourced institutions, HBCUs have a large 
economic impact that often goes unnoticed by most. In 2017, UNCF 
released a report detailing the economic impact of HBCUs. The report 
revealed that in 2014, the impact of HBCUs on their regional economies 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
included:

          $10.3 billion in initial spending, which includes 
        spending by the institution for personnel services, spending by 
        the institution for operating expenses, and spending by 
        students;

          An employment impact of 134,090 jobs, which 
        approximately 43 percent were on-campus jobs and 57 percent 
        were off-campus jobs;

          $10.1 billion in terms of gross regional product, 
        which is a measure of the value of production of all 
        industries;

          A work-life earnings of $130 billion for the Class of 
        2014, which is 56 percent more than they could expect to earn 
        without their 2014 certificates or degrees; and

          A total economic impact of $14.8 billion. \8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\  Humphreys, J.M. (2017). HBCUs make America strong: The 
positive economic impact of historically Black colleges and 
universities. Retrieved from UNCF Website: https://www.uncf.org/
programs/hbcu-impact.

    In regard to Xavier University of Louisiana specifically, my 
institution had the following economic impact on its regional economy 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
according to the UNCF report:

          $200,000,000 in annual economic impact;

          1,715 jobs supported annually; and

          $1.7 billion in lifetime earnings for one graduating 
        class.

          $95 million in labor income impact. \9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\  (1) Total initial spending accruing to the institution's 
regional economy is the combination of three types of spending: 
spending by the institution for personnel services (wages, salaries, 
and benefits), spending by the institution for operating expenses, and 
spending by that institution's students. (2) The output impact was 
calculated for each category of initial spending, based on the impacts 
of the first round of spending and the re-spending of these amounts--
the multiplier effect. (3) Value-added (gross regional product) impacts 
exclude expenditures related to foreign and domestic trade, thus 
providing a much more accurate measure of the actual economic benefits 
flowing to businesses and households in a region than the more 
inclusive output impacts. (4) The labor income received by residents of 
the cities that host HBCUs represents 72 percent of the value-added 
impact. (5) For the employment impact, on average, for each job created 
on campus there were 1.3 off-campus jobs that existed because of 
spending related to the HBCU. For all HBCUs combined, 13 jobs were 
generated for each million dollars of initial spending in 2014.

    In addition to the positive impact HBCUs make on the overall 
economy, HBCUs also have a strong impact academically when observed at 
the state and local level. An upcoming report to be released by UNCF 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
shows that:

          HBCUs comprised 8.5 percent of the four-year 
        institutions across the 21 states and territories in the 
        analysis;

          Across the 21 states and territories in the analysis, 
        HBCUs enrolled, on average, 24 percent of all Black 
        undergraduates pursuing a bachelor's degree in a college or 
        university in 2016;

          Across the 21 states and territories in the analysis, 
        on average, 26 percent of all Black bachelor's degree 
        recipients graduated from an HBCU in 2016; and

          In North Carolina, HBCUs are 16 percent of the four-
        year institutions, but enroll 45 percent of all Black 
        undergraduates and award 43 percent of all Black bachelor's 
        degrees in the state. \10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\  Saunders, K. & Nagle, B.T. (2018). HBCUs punching above their 
weight: A state-level analysis of historically Black college and 
university enrollment and graduation. Washington, DC: UNCF Frederick D. 
Patterson Research Institute.

                  Xavier's Plans for Possible Pandemic
    On January 23, 2020, as we received reports of the emergence of 
SARS-CoV-2 from China to neighboring countries, I called for the first 
meeting of my executive team with associated support staff to prepare 
for possible pandemic. The scenario-planning team met for a daylong 
tabletop exercise, the team responded to the question: if the virus 
arrived on our sure and necessary public health measures were 
implemented, including lockdowns and sending home students and non-
essential personnel, how would Xavier sustain high quality education, 
continue serving its students, and protect all concerned. Their task 
was to assess forthrightly our preparedness, our capabilities and 
deficits. In doing so, we identified the immediate need to reinforce in 
all faculty an already burgeoning capacity to teach well online. We 
considered our ability to address physical and emotional needs of 
students and personnel, and to serve those who might become ill.

    On the morning of Saturday, March 7, 2020, as I returned to Xavier 
from a UNCF meeting, Xavier continued its moment-to-moment response to 
the novel coronavirus that would be declared a pandemic in a precious 
few short days. On March 13, 2020, Xavier implemented its decision to 
move to remote instruction, initially allowing students the option to 
shelter in place. One week later, Xavier sent all students and non-
essential employees home. One concern at the time is that travel might 
be restricted, and students might lose the possibility of returning 
home.

    Throughout this long emergency, my fellow college and university 
presidents, locally in the New Orleans region and among sister HBCUs, 
exchanged ideas and worked collectively for the safety of our students 
and personnel and to sustain our educational missions. Many a Zoom 
meetings were spent exchanging thoughts and considering best 
approaches.
              Facing the COVID-19 Storm: Initial Responses
    I subsequently established a planning team derived from academic 
and student affair, our health personnel, and specialists from our 
School of Pharmacy and our Public Health faculty. This group was 
charged to plan for the longer term, to plan for the return in whatever 
fashion and determine how we could offer instruction while maintaining 
the well-being of students, faculty and staff. I joined at times in 
their engaged discussions. One operant question that they were asked to 
test was how we could assure greater safety on campus, than in our 
surroundings or the home localities of our students, if we allowed 
students, faculty, and staff to return.

    It is because they were able to propose a plan that satisfied this 
condition of greater safety that we could ethically embark on a return 
in-person for Fall 2020. The taskforce recommended a plan with detailed 
timeline and behavioral requirements for repopulating campus, with 
mixed modalities of instruction. Due to the uncertainties of the 
evolving pandemic, the team offered three scenarios: face-to-face 
instruction in Fall 2020, Xavier all online courses in Fall 2020, and a 
hybrid of both online courses and face-to-face instruction in Fall 
2020.

    The plan relied on masking, which the science showed to reliably 
and profoundly reduce transmissibility of the virus. It required social 
distancing, reducing occupancy of housing facilities to single 
occupancy per room. It required surveillance testing and decision 
points that might require a return to fully remote instruction. It 
called for redoubling efforts for academic and emotional support, 
attending to students physically present and those who remained at 
home. The team also proposed guidance that students would shelter in 
place in the event of a surge. They should not be sent home to spread 
illness elsewhere. The plan recognize the urgency of the situation and 
the necessity to persevere.

    The university contracted space in a nearby hotel at a cost of 
several million dollars per semester so as to transition all residences 
to single occupancy. Forty-four percent of the student body (1390 
students) resided on campus. Masking and distancing would be required 
of all persons on campus.

    The leadership team also implemented deep cleaning of all 
facilities with an antimicrobial agent. Finally, while Xavier never 
closed, we met and exceeded all Federal, state, and local orders, 
including the closing of the campus and allowing access only to 
essential employees and a few remaining residential students. 
Initially, approximately 150 students remained on campus during their 
spring break. As the second week of spring break expired, in response 
to the extension of the Federal social distancing guideline through 
April 30th, Xavier decided to close residence halls on Friday, March 
26th, and required all students to vacate the premises, except for 
international students, and those students deemed food and housing 
insecure. Each of the 1390 residential students' accounts was credited 
an average of $1800.00 in housing refunds, for a total of $2.4 million. 
Forty-four (44) percent of the student body resided on campus prior to 
the pandemic closure. Fortunately, Xavier did not have to lay off any 
employees due to the pandemic, but hiring and spending freezes were 
imposed. Superlative education continued and 571 students graduated on 
May 8, 2021. These graduates are our gift to the world.
               Facing the Storm: Suppressing Transmission
    The measure of success experienced at Xavier in sustaining 
education and in suppressing transmission of the virus in our campus 
community is due largely the charism of ``service to other'' that 
infuses this community of learners. Students know that their learning 
will find its meaning when applied to service of others, whether as 
teachers, physicians, artists or scientists. As Xavier deployed 
behavioral measures, e.g. masking, social distancing, wiping one's desk 
when leaving it, the Xavierites responded so as to endanger fellow 
students, faculty or staff. The Xavier community followed these 
measures, resulting in no greater that 1.6 percent seropositivity on 
campus throughout the pandemic. Responding to the teaching of Leviticus 
19:34 and Mark 12:31, this community lived its calling to love ones 
neighbor at all times. In adhering to care of other, there was care for 
all.
      Facing the Storm: Faculty and Staff Innovative and Flexible
    COVID-19 has disrupted learning and life at Xavier, but it has not, 
and will not, defeat us. Like the eagle, Xavier faced the storm winds 
and soared above COVID-19 to complete the spring 2020 and 2020--2021 
academic years remotely and hybrid, respectively, with faculty and 
students teaching and learning from their homes. We learned that, yes, 
we can deliver distance education, and, yes, to my staff's great 
delight, I can even complete a full Zoom meeting in 30 minutes. This 
storm has given us a new perspective and language for our employees and 
while there was never any doubt, we affirm anew that the faculty of our 
institution are essential. In addition, the residential staff, security 
officers, chefs, cooks, servers, the Team Clean custodial workers, and 
the controller's staff are essential as well.

    Today, I celebrate Xavier faculty for their flexibility; the 
essential staff who braved the virus to come to campus daily; those who 
worked remotely and learned how to conduct Zoom classes and meetings; 
our precious students; and everyone who faced the storm and soared 
above with vigilance, patience, and prayer. The entire Xavier family 
responded well to the challenge to recruit, retain, and remove barriers 
for students.
    Xavier's administrative staff, directors, chaplains, and faculty 
all joined together to email, text, and communicate with new or 
prospective students. Faculty and staff have committed to removing the 
barriers to graduation and registration, and COVID-19 has taught us 
that some of the things we thought were important and necessary are 
neither important, necessary, or really needed.

                Facing the Storm: Our City and Our State
    Situated less than one mile from downtown New Orleans, we pay close 
attention to developments in our city, surrounding parishes, and the 
State of Louisiana. As of March 26, 2020, the state of Louisiana 
declared a state of emergency; ordered bars to close and restaurants to 
limit capacity; ordered grocery stores and pharmacies to reserve the 
first hour of each day for seniors; and canceled events for the next 30 
days. In New Orleans, a majority African American city with a 
population of 390,849, the number of COVID-19 cases began spiking in 
late March 2020. On February 25, 2020, Mardi Gras--a uniquely New 
Orleans festivity--took place. On April 2nd, there were 745 new cases 
of COVID-19 in our community on that one day alone. Health disparities 
which have for centuries afflicted African American communities were 
noticeably exacerbated in pandemic, especially in the early months of 
the emergency. Frontline workers, disproportionately people of color 
experienced greater exposure. Working class African Americans, who make 
our city hum with excitement and hope, bore a greater disease burden.

    With this being said, Xavier is challenged to serve, sharing 
expertise with city and community, with many Xavierites serving on city 
and state taskforces and committees. The university was most fortunate 
to have UNCF and the 37 member institutions as thought partners. 
Webinars and convenings allowed for collective thought and reflection. 
The university also owed a debt of gratitude to ThermoFisher and the 
Gates Foundation for enabling the establishment of a high thru-put 
testing laboratory on campus. This facility afforded surveillance 
testing for our campus and other HBCUs in our region.

    My institution continues to rely heavily on the following sources 
in our evolving response.

          CDC,

          UNCF,

          American College Health Association Considerations 
        for Reopening Institutions of Higher Education in the COVID-19 
        Era,

          Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and 
        Universities (LAICU),

          Louisiana Board of Regents,

          Louisiana Department of Health,

          Louisiana Economic Recovery Group (ERG),

          City of Public Health Taskforce

          City of New Orleans Health Department, and

          The city, parish, state and Federal guidance and 
        orders.

          National Association of Independent Colleges and 
        Universities (NAICU),

          National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Core 
        Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Sport

    Xavier was able to quickly establish a COVID-19 Team with a 
strategy team to lead. The Xavier crisis team is made up of the head of 
student health, experts from Public Health and Pharmacy, from Student 
Affairs, with participation of the President as needed. This team is 
charged with offering overall leadership and guidance, including 
tracking seropositivity and recommending responses and communication to 
the community, and also coordinating the weekly COVID-19 Team Meeting. 
As president, my role is to keep the team focused on valid science in 
its assessment of the situation and its recommendations to maintain 
safety.

    Due to the fluid developments of COVID-19 pandemic, Xavier prepared 
for three scenarios: face-to-face instruction in Fall 2020, all online 
courses in Fall 2020, and hybrid of online courses and face-to-face 
instruction in Fall 2020.

    When Xavier students returned for face-to-face instruction in Fall 
2020, it was during a more aggressive COVID-19 season. The 
institution's response mirrored the response of the Spring 2020 
semester and consisted of the following:

          Protocols established across the campus, particularly 
        the academic and student affairs COVID-19 protections, to keep 
        students safe and healthy on campus prior to their departure;

          Faculty prior experience in delivering and moving 
        instruction from face-to-face to online:

          Strict adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols for 
        students, faculty, staff, and visitors to include washing their 
        hands, wearing their masks, social distancing, and self-
        checking for COVID-19 symptoms;

          Surveillance testing for COVID-19 infection.

          COVID-19 restrictions and recommendations by local, 
        state, and Federal entities;

          Frequent and routine virtual recruiting, admissions, 
        financial, orientation, and athletic presentations;

          The re-recruitment of majors by departmental leaders; 
        and

          Preparations to see a decrease in overall enrollment 
        and revenue.

    While small and independent, Xavier primed itself to deliver 
responsive and creative programmatic and curricular solutions. The 
institution used Federal support to source digital devices, platforms, 
texts, course material, and office applications to support Xavier. 
Xavier implemented BrightSpace Virtual Platform, eliminating face-to-
face instruction and moving all classes to a remote format for over a 
semester before carefully returning to campus. However, that did pose 
its own unique set of challenges for Xavier:

          About 55 percent of Xavier students receive Pell 
        grants. Thus, more than half of our students do not have the 
        funds, equipment, or Internet access to receive instruction 
        remotely;

          Many students arrive on campus having endured food 
        and housing insecurities at home. For some, the University is 
        the most safe and secure place; and

          The College had to rapidly deploy, at cost, online 
        resources to support secure virtual testing administration or 
        the delivery of science lab instruction.
                              Use of Funds
    The following outlines how Xavier has used its CARES, CRRSAA, and 
ARP allocations to date.

          HEERF I & HEERF II Student Aid--The University was 
        awarded a total of $3.2 million in student aid and to date has 
        disbursed $2.9 million emergency student aid grants as follows:

                `  HEERF I--Emergency student aid grants--$1.4 million

                `  HEERF II--Emergency Aid Grants--$1.5 million

          HEERF I Institutional Aid--The University was awarded 
        $1.6 million and has expended $1.3 million on the following:

                `  Distance learning training for faculty

                `  Computers for students, faculty and staff for loaner 
                program

                `  IT software purchases necessary due to COVID-19.

          HEERF II Institutional Aid--University was awarded 
        $3.9 million to date we have not expended any of these funds.

          CARES Act Title III--The University received an award 
        of $7.0 million and expended $5.8 million the funds as follows:

                `  $1.8 million in need based scholarships to students.
                `  $2.4 million reimbursement of housing refunds paid 
                to students due to campus closure in March 2020.
                `  $1.6 million reimbursement for payments made to the 
                Hilton for offsite housing due to a need for additional 
                housing to reduce density (single occupancy housing).

          CARES Act Title III (Second Allocation)--The total 
        award is $12.4 million of which the University has expended 
        $5.1 million reimbursement for payments made to the Hilton for 
        offsite housing due to a need for additional housing to reduce 
        density (single occupancy housing). Please note the University 
        paid a total of $6.7 million to the Hilton.

          American Rescue Plan ARP--Total award is $9.6 million 
        ($4.8 million student aid and $4.8 million Institutional aid), 
        the University has not expended any of these funds to date.

              Facing the Storm: Requests for Consideration
    I would be remiss if I did not thank Congress and those of this 
Committee for passing H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and 
Economic Security (CARES) Act. Your time, energy, and effort does not 
go unnoticed, and I also want to thank the President for signing this 
bill into law. Because of the CARES Act, Xavier to a total of $3.79 
million in direct allocations from Section 18004(a)(1) and 18004(a)(2) 
of the bill. Of this total, we have received the allocation for the 
emergency grant aid for students and the allocation for the 
institutions in Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act equaling $2.9 
million. My institution used the institutional funds to reimburse 
ourselves for COVID-19 related expenses and disseminated the emergency 
grant aid to students. Xavier established two dispersal tactics:

    HEERF I:

          Increased financial aid packages of new and 
        continuing students ($3 million)

          Provided $1.8 million in emergency grants to over 
        1100 students; an application process was used to address 
        breadth and depth of individual student needs

    HEERF II:

          Provided $1.8 million in additional emergency grants 
        to continuing students, prioritizing students with highest need 
        (based on Federal financial aid guidelines)

    Xavier, with her 756 full-time equivalent employees, was ineligible 
for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program 
loan because of the university's size. We are also currently 
participating in the HBCU Capital Financing program deferment of 
principal and interest payments during this emergency. We received an 
HBCU Capital Financing loan in 2020 of $100,000,000. This deferment 
allows us to direct these payments toward sustaining the needed and 
necessary operations of our campus.

    Please know, Xavier reflects the diversity of private, nonprofit 
higher education in the United States. With over 5 million students 
attending 1,700 independent colleges and universities in all 50 states, 
and more than 1 million employees, the private sector of American 
higher education has a dramatic impact on our Nation's larger public 
interests. On behalf of UNCF-member institutions, HBCUs, and small 
nonprofit colleges, I ask that you do the following:

    On behalf of UNCF-member institutions, HBCUs, and small nonprofit 
colleges, I ask that you do the following:

        (1) Forgive balance of HBCU Capital Finance Program debt for 
        remaining HBCUs: The long-term impact of the Federal Government 
        providing permanent relief the HBCU Capital Finance 
        institutions in December 2020 will be felt for generations. 
        Xavier knows this impact having survived the impact Hurricane 
        Katrina. However, the provisions of the Consolidated 
        Appropriations Act of 2020 state that only obligated funds 
        borrowed from the Department of Education's program were 
        eligible for relief. When Xavier, undertaking an opportunity to 
        finally tackle a backlog of deferred maintenance, borrowed 
        $100,000,000 from the HBCU Capital Finance Program, the 
        subsequent permanent relief proved to have little to no 
        institutional impact. As an issue of fairness for similarly 
        situated institutions, the remaining (and existing) HBCU 
        Capital Finance Program loans should also undergo permanent 
        relief. We at Xavier understand that this relief should not be 
        routine; however, there are numerous measures in the 117th 
        Congress which include this permanent relief, including the 
        Institutional Grants for New Infrastructure, Technology, and 
        Education for (IGNITE) HBCU Excellence Act.

        (2) Double Pell Grants: As much as institutions which have been 
        historically underfunded--such as HBCUs--so have the students 
        that they serve. As aforementioned, 70 percent of Xavier 
        students are Pell Grant eligible. That means those students 
        come from low-to-moderate income backgrounds. Yet, they 
        persist. Unfortunately, too many of them take out loans which 
        saddle them with a financial burden so heavy that they struggle 
        to repay for much of their adult life despite a strong career. 
        Doubling the maximum Pell Grant, and restoring the purchasing 
        power of the program, allows for our students who need the most 
        help to have it at their disposal. To me and my colleagues 
        everywhere in academia, this is a ``no-brainer.'' I encourage 
        this Committee, the Committee of jurisdiction, to do all it can 
        in this very Congress to double the Pell Grant.

        (3) Support Biden-Harris plans: Whether it is the budget put 
        forward by President Biden for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, the Jobs 
        and Infrastructure plan, or the American Families plan, HBCUs 
        are prominently supported. Sure this elevates institutions like 
        Xavier in the public discourse, but it also proves that my 
        institution and all of them like it are worthy of investment 
        not just because they are HBCUs or a historic lack of 
        investment. Instead, we are worthy of transformative infusions 
        by the Federal Government because of our product: graduates who 
        exactly the ones the country needs to pursue its goals and 
        objectives. Sure Xavier graduates provide diversity, but they 
        also provide ingenuity, a hard-working spirit, and a level of 
        intelligence and know-how that proves the old adage that it is 
        not where you start but instead where you finish.
                               Conclusion
    In conclusion, Xavier is an institution that not only has a history 
of contributing to society, but is an institution that also provides 
transformative education for our students, especially our students who 
are low-income and first generation. In promoting social mobility of 
students and their achievement, Xavier not only benefits the 
individual, but families, communities, cities and states. Social impact 
is indeed great.

    It is an honor to be asked to present this testimony, and I commend 
you for your service and for addressing these important issues.

    Thank you.
                                 ______
                                 
                 [summary statement of reynold verret]
    Chair Murray, Ranking Member Richard Burr, and Members of the 
Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

    My name is Dr. C. Reynold Verret, and I serve as the 6th President 
of Xavier University of Louisiana (Xavier). Xavier was founded by Saint 
Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. My 
institution is Catholic and considered a historically Black college and 
university (HBCU).

    The ultimate purpose of Xavier is to contribute to the promotion of 
a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume 
roles of leadership and service in a global society. This preparation 
takes place in a diverse learning and teaching environment that 
incorporates all relevant educational means, including research and 
community service.

    I was asked to testify before the Committee today on how Xavier, as 
an HBCU, has employed and utilized the Federal relief funds passed by 
Congress as a result of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. As you know, 
HBCUs were created as early as 1837 to provide African Americans access 
to higher education. Noted for their contributions in educating 
``Black, low-income and educationally disadvantaged Americans,'' the 
101 HBCUs today constitute the class of institutions that satisfy the 
statutory definition of the term ``HBCU'' as defined in the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (HEA).

    On January 23, 2020, I called together a daylong scenario planning 
session consisting of my cabinet and key administrators within academic 
and student affairs, facilities, and marketing and communications. This 
table-top planning group met on January 29th to respond to this 
question: ``if this new airborne virus that had recently migrated from 
China to other Southeast Asian countries were to reach our shore such 
that major public health measures are required and students sent home, 
how could we continue high quality education and protect all 
concerned''. Furthermore, the group was to assess what was required to 
assure our readiness, identify what was in place and what was lacking.

    As a result of this vigilance, Xavier determined to begin remote 
instruction on March 16, 2020, allowing students the option to shelter 
in place. One week later, Xavier sent all students and non-essential 
employees home. Instruction continued by online modalities for the 
duration of the Spring semester.

    Once the campus was depopulated, I established a planning task 
force of academic, student affairs, and health personnel to plan for 
the longer term, and determine how we could offer instruction while 
maintaining the well-being of students, faculty and staff. If we were 
to return in person, how could we assure greater safety on campus, than 
in our surroundings or the home localities of our students?

    As a result of their deliberation, the taskforce recommended a plan 
strategy with detailed timeline for reopening as is further articulated 
in my written testimony, and due to the uncertainties of the evolving 
pandemic, the team offered three scenarios: face-to-face instruction in 
Fall 2020, Xavier all online courses in Fall 2020, and a hybrid of both 
online courses and face-to-face instruction in Fall 2020.

    The Administration established to move to mixed modality 
instruction and service delivery for the Fall 2020 semester. The 
majority of instruction took place in person with a significant 
component via remote or hybrid means, which allowed students to choose 
their preferred mode of instruction. The university redoubled its 
effort for academic and emotional support, attending to students 
physically present and those who remained at home.

    The university contracted hotel space nearby to transition all 
residences to single occupancy. Forty-four percent of the student body 
(1390 students) resided on campus. Masking and distancing would be 
required of all persons on campus. Xavier was fortunate in that the 
pandemic did not result in layoffs; however hiring and spending freezes 
were imposed.

    Situated in Orleans Parish, Xavier pays close attention to the 
current developments in the city, surrounding parishes, and the State 
of Louisiana. As of March 11, 2020, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards 
declared a state of emergency; ordered bars to close and restaurants to 
limit capacity; ordered grocery stores and pharmacies to reserve the 
first hour of each day for seniors; and canceled events for the next 30 
days. In Orleans Parish, with a population of approximately 390,849, 
the number of COVID-19 cases began spiking as of late March 2020. On 
February 25, 2020, Mardi Gras--a uniquely New Orleans festivity--took 
place. On April 2nd, there were 745 new cases of COVID-19 in our 
community. Further, I began to note anecdotally what we would belatedly 
have empirical evidence to prove: the health disparities which have for 
centuries existed and ravished African American communities were not 
only being further exposed but rather exacerbated. The working-class 
African Americans, which make our city hum with excitement and vigor, 
were the most impacted and bore the burden of disease.

    I would be remiss if I did not thank Congress, including those of 
this Committee, for passing last Congress' H.R. 748, the Coronavirus 
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act; H.R. 133, the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020; and this Congress' H.R. 1319, 
the American Recovery Act. Your time, energy, and effort does not go 
unnoticed, and I also want to thank President Trump for signing the 
first two into law, and then President Biden whose leadership was the 
catalyst for the ARP.

    Because of the CARES Act, Xavier has access to a total of $37.9 
million in direct allocations from Section 18004(a)(1) and 18004(a)(2) 
of the bill. While I am thankful for this, I would be remiss if I did 
not share with you all that Xavier has been bracing for revenue losses 
that would impact our ability to operate. Also, our students are 
enduring difficult economic times that presents unique challenges, most 
especially for students of color.

    With this said, I would like to firmly thank Congress, 
specifically, for providing an additional allocations of $1.054 
billion, $1.7 billion, and $2.98 billion in funding for HBCUs, Tribal 
Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions 
(MSIs). Additionally, I would like to thank Congress for targeted debt 
relief for institutions in the HBCU Capital Finance Program in the 2020 
Consolidated Appropriations Act. Many HBCUs benefited, and I must say 
that Xavier benefited from that relief to a minimal effect, because the 
relief was predicated on funding that was already obligated at the time 
the bill was signed into law. I am also grateful for funding which 
benefited our student population directly. The majority of my students 
are Black Americans and Black Americans are disproportionately impacted 
by COVID-19. If the majority of my students are disproportionately 
impacted, then my institution is disproportionately impacted as 
compared with other colleges and universities. All of us at Xavier, 
including faculty, staff, and students, needed additional resources to 
survive this pandemic and ensure that we are able to successfully 
survive this pandemic.

    For more information and details regarding my remarks, I ask that 
you read my written testimony submitted for your review.
                                 ______
                                 
    The Chair. Thank you. We will turn to Mr. Harris.

     STATEMENT OF ANTHONY HARRIS, STUDENT, BALDWIN WALLACE 
                     UNIVERSITY, BEREA, OH

    Mr. Harris. Good morning.
    [Technical problems.]--but good morning, Chair Murray, 
Ranking Member Burr, and Members of this Committee. It is an 
honor to be testifying before you today. I am a senior at 
Baldwin Wallace University and also a proud mentee at College 
Now Greater Cleveland, an organization who without I would not 
be sitting before you today as a college student. To begin, I 
would like to thank you all for the opportunity to speak on 
behalf of higher education students from all over the country 
who benefit from Federal funding and who have also been 
impacted in many ways by this devastating pandemic.
    I would also like to think I speak on behalf of students 
who could benefit from Federal funding and support, but for 
whatever reason don't have access to the necessary means in 
order to reap in their benefits. Like many students across the 
country, I have had an unorthodox college experience, to say 
the least. It began by being accepted at High Tech Academy, an 
Ohio College Credit Plus Program that offers high school 
students the opportunity to take college level courses at 
Cuyahoga Community College in order to get a head start in 
their collegiate endeavors.
    It was through High Tech Academy that I gained not only 
college credit, but the imperative knowledge about higher 
education that I would use for the rest of my college career. I 
was also motivated by peers and introduced into leadership 
programs like the Rotsky Foundation, Key Club, and Circle K 
that encouraged students and prepared them for college 
readiness. With all of that in mind though, the harsh reality 
is individuals can't go to college if they can't afford it. 
That is where College Now came into play for me. This unique 
organization provides students with personalized scholarship 
opportunities and a wealth of additional support services 
designed to aid students in their transition to higher 
education.
    Through College Now, I was offered assistance in filling 
out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as 
FAFSA, an application form that I knew nothing about. After 
learning about this form and getting access to the support that 
I needed, I discovered that I was eligible to receive Pell 
Grant funding that offered students just like me thousands of 
dollars toward their education. This Federal funding was life 
changing, but once aspirations of attending college became more 
attainable for students who are at a financial disadvantage, 
this funding in particular also made it available for me to 
transfer universities, to offer me a peace of mind to both my 
family and myself, because we knew that this Federal funding 
would follow me to whatever university I went to.
    It was in part because of this funding that I was able to 
transfer to Baldwin Wallace with such ease and financial 
comfort. These programs and funding became even more imperative 
when the news of the COVID-19 pandemic became public during 
spring break of all times, all the while the students that had 
left campus to go home were asked to stay and the trajectory of 
our semester changed dramatically. Professors and instructors 
were either given one week, just one week, to redesign their 
entire syllabus--their entire syllabi to meet the needs of 
distance learning. Where this change was hard for faculty and 
staff, it was also very difficult for students as well.
    I had no access to a personal computer or a laptop. It was 
College Now that pulled together resources and provided 
students like me with the computers they needed to transition 
to this new distance learning. As a resident assistant, I was 
tasked to keep in contact with all of my residents from home, 
and it was then that I realized how this pandemic had affected 
all of them. From our correspondents, I found that many 
students struggled with a wide variety of problems. Some 
students didn't have access to computers like myself. Others 
had no access to the Internet at all.
    Some didn't feel that they had a safe place to study, get 
work done, or even call home. I also interacted with some 
students who lived off campus and out of the country who were 
stuck on campus and could not make it home to see their 
families. Things seemed very bleak until students got word of 
the CARES Act funding that they were being offered. This 
funding was very well received and used for a wide variety of 
things. Personally, I use the funding to get books and for 
Internet access. Other campus wide uses include transportation, 
food, tuition and savings. Even as the next disbursement of the 
CARES Act funding was released, students were continuing to 
find creative ways to continue attending school at all costs. 
When students returned to campus in the fall though, things 
were still not back to normal.
    Baldwin Wallace had adopted a newer and more complex 
blended learning platform. So now students were being asked to 
attend classes both online and in person based on classroom 
size and their professor's discretion. I applaud still the way 
Baldwin Wallace has handled this new way of education. All 
students were given a COVID test before returning to campus and 
masks for the entire semester. Furthermore, the university also 
conducted random testing and told students at random to be 
tested for the coronavirus and also offered vaccines.
    All of these measures turned out to work because we were 
able to remain on campus for the entire academic year without a 
surplus number of positive cases on campus. The thing I find 
most important now is that the access to Federal funding 
continue to go out to organizations like College Now that are 
helping students, and they continue to students and 
universities alike as the world continues to evolve. I believe 
the world of higher education would benefit from a doubling of 
the Pell Grant and also from the continued support of COVID 
relief funds.
    I thank you all for your time and attention and also for 
listening to my long stories. And it has been an absolute 
honor. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Harris follows:]
               prepared statement of anthony harris, jr.
    Good morning, Chair Murray, Ranking Member Burr and Members of this 
Committee, it is an honor to be testifying before you all today. My 
name is Anthony Harris, JR., and I am a graduating senior at Baldwin 
Wallace University with a BFA in Acting and a proud mentee of College 
Now Greater Cleveland, an organization who without I would not be 
sitting before you as a college student today.

    To begin, I would like to thank you all for the opportunity to 
speak on behalf of higher education students from all over the country 
who benefit from Federal funding and who also have been impacted in 
many ways by this devastating pandemic. I also like to think that I 
speak on behalf of students who could benefit from Federal funding and 
support but, for whatever reason, don't have access to the necessary 
means in order to reap in the benefits.

    Like many students across the country, I have had an unorthodox 
college experience to say the least. It began with being accepted into 
High Tech Academy, an Ohio College Credit Plus program that offers High 
School students the opportunity to take college level courses at 
Cuyahoga Community College in order to get a head start in their 
collegiate endeavors. It was through High Tech that I gained not only 
college credit, but the imperative knowledge about higher education 
that I would use during the rest of my college career. I was also 
motivated by peers and introduced to leadership programs like the 
Rotsky Foundation, Key Club, and Circle K that encouraged students and 
prepared them for college readiness.

    With all of that in mind though, the harsh reality is individuals 
can't go to college if they can't afford it. That's where College Now 
came into play for me. This unique organization provides students with 
personalized scholarship opportunities and a wealth of additional 
support services designed to aid students in their transition to higher 
education. Through College Now, I was offered assistance in filling out 
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)--an application 
form that I had never heard of before. After learning about this form 
and being given access to the support I needed, I discovered that I was 
eligible to receive Pell Grant funding that offers students just like 
me thousands of dollars toward their education. This Federal funding 
was life changing. The once aspirations of attending college become 
more attainable for those students who are at a financial disadvantage. 
This funding in particular was also needed when I was forced to 
transfer universities. It offered a peace of mind to both me and my 
family to know that I had Federal financial support that would follow 
me to whatever university I attended. It was, in part, because of this 
funding that I was able to transfer to Baldwin Wallace with such ease 
and financial comfort.

    These programs and fundings became more imperative than ever when 
news of the COVID-19 Pandemic became public during spring break . 
Baldwin Wallace students that had left campus for the break were asked 
to stay home and the trajectory of the semester changed dramatically. 
Professors and instructors were given a week to redesign their syllabi 
to meet the needs of distance learning.

    Where this change was hard for faculty, it was also very difficult 
for students. I had no access to a personal computer or laptop. It was 
College Now that pulled resources together and provided students like 
myself with the computers they needed to transition to this new 
distanced learning . As a Resident Assistant (RA), I was tasked to keep 
in contact with all of my residents from home and it was then I 
realized the impact the pandemic had on all of them. From our 
correspondence, I found that many students struggled with a wide 
variety of problems. Some students did not own laptops, others had no 
access to the internet, and some didn't feel they had a safe place to 
get work done or even call home. I also interacted with some students 
who lived out of the state (or country) who were stuck on campus and 
couldn't get home to their families.

    Things seemed very bleak until students got word of the CARES act 
funding that was being offered to them. This funding was well received 
and was used for a wide variety of things. Personally, I used the 
funding for books and internet. Other campus wide uses included 
transportation, food, tuition and savings. Even as the next 
disbursements of the CARES Act funding was released, students were 
continuing to find creative ways to continue attending school at all 
cost.

    When students returned to campus in the Fall though, things were 
still not back to normal. Baldwin Wallace had adopted a newer and more 
complex blended learning platform. Now, students were attending classes 
both online and in person based on classroom size and the professor's 
discretion. I applaud the way BW handled this new way of education. All 
students were asked to get tested before returning to campus and all on 
campus students were given a set of masks to use during the semester. 
Furthermore, the university also conducted randomized student testing 
where students were chosen at random during the semester to be tested 
for COVID-19. In addition to this, the University did not release 
students for Spring Break. Instead, we were all given selected days off 
in order to reduce students' interaction with members of the community 
at large who may have been exposed to the virus. All of these measures 
turned out to work and we were all able to remain on campus for the 
entire academic year without a surplus number of positive cases on 
campus.

    The thing I find most important now, is that the access to Federal 
funding continues to go out to organizations such as College Now, 
students and universities alike as the world continues to evolve. I 
believe the world of higher education would benefit from a doubling of 
Pell Grant Funds and the continued support from COVID relief funds.

    I thank you all for time and attention and also for allowing me to 
speak before you all today. I would be happy to answer any questions 
you might have. My name is Anthony Harris JR and this has been an 
honor. Thank you.
                                 ______
                                 
    The Chair. Thank you very much, Mr. Harris. We really 
appreciate your personal perspective today. Thank you. 
President Pumariega.

STATEMENT OF MADELINE PUMARIEGA, PRESIDENT, MIAMI DADE COLLEGE, 
                           MIAMI, FL

    Ms. Pumariega. Good morning, Madam Chair, Ranking Member 
Burr, and Members of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
Committee. Thank you for inviting me here today to testify 
regarding CARES and HEERF funding for community colleges. My 
name is Madeline Pumariega. I am the President at Miami Dade 
College. I must say that since the first day that I arrived on 
campus, my priority has been to ensure not only the physical 
safety of our students, but also the physical safety of our 
organization.
    I must say that on behalf of the over 1,100 community 
colleges across America, I know that we serve as the economic 
and workforce engines for our community. Miami-Dade College, 
known as democracy's college, is the Nation's most diverse 
institution of higher education, with a student body 
representing 167 nations and one of the largest, if not the 
largest community college and university across the country, 
serving 120,000 students. Very few institutions have had a 
greater impact on regions they serve like we do here in Miami-
Dade County, which has more than 2 million of our students 
alumni, we probably touch every household in our community.
    Offering more than 300 distinct career pathways, Miami-Dade 
College is at the cutting edge of technology and innovation, 
with hundreds of strategic workforce partnerships--with 
partnerships that include both global companies and right here, 
our local workforce. In Miami-Dade County, 85 percent of our 
businesses employ less than 50 employees, so we serve as that 
conduit for workforce training. Since the beginning of the 
pandemic, Miami-Dade College's aim has been to remain open. For 
a brief two week period our faculty and staff went to work on 
redesigning courses that we can put up in virtual platforms for 
our students.
    We did that and we turned. We have remained open. We have 
provided support for our students, whether it is mental health 
counseling in person or virtually, academic advising virtually 
or in-person. By last summer, all of our courses were being 
taught in multiple platforms, not only in person but also 
hybrid, telepresence, and this past January, we launched MDC 
Live, learning interactively in a virtual environment so 
students like just in this format can interact with each other 
and interact with their faculty.
    The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security, the first 
round of CARES was signed March 28, 2020 and provided almost 
$14 billion that went directly to higher education institutions 
to support the cost of shifting classes online and for 
emergency financial aid grants for food, housing, technology, 
and any other component related to the students' cost of 
attendance, and for emergency costs that arose due to the 
virus.
    With additional funding announced earlier this year, Miami 
Dade College has received more than $50 million during the 
first round, which went to students. We provided aid to 
thousands of students, not only in scholarships, but also in 
emergency grant funding, housing insecurity dollars, as well as 
opportunities for retraining. Of an important note MDC role, 
MDC played a very important role in the greater Miami area in 
terms of recovering from the pandemic by not only offering many 
free and low cost courses and programs in emerging industries 
and helping those who had been displaced retool and get back 
into the workforce, but also serving as a Federal vaccination 
site.
    Today we administered over 350,000, vaccines leading the 
Southeast United States. Miami-Dade College took a proactive 
approach to prepare and respond to the pandemic. In early 
January, the college already had a robust emergency management 
program that supports the continuity of operations. Quite 
frankly, today we have seen our enrollment bounce back, 
aligning our mission, people centric mission to the workforce 
programs that we know our community needs and that our 
workforce partners need as well.
    Just like the Hope Center research shows, many of our 
students are food insecure, housing insecure, and the dollars 
have helped support our students. We have also aligned the 
dollars to ensure that we have provided PPE, the right security 
and safety measures for all of our campuses, and have returned 
everyone back to work, and offering in-person, online, and 
virtual courses.
    Thank you for this time and for allowing me to share the 
way that Miami-Dade College has supported our community, our 
students, the way that our colleges are working together so 
that we secure a promise toward the future that helps students 
find a path to prosperity through the power of education, and 
by aligning our programs to those areas that our workforce 
partners need, and to support university transfer pathways as 
well. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Pumariega follows:]
                prepared statement of madeline pumariega
    Good morning, Chair Murray, Ranking Member, and Members of the 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Thank you for 
inviting me to testify at today's hearing.

    My name is Madeline Pumariega and I am the President of Miami Dade 
College. I was elected the 5th President of Miami Dade College during 
the pandemic. My first day as President was January 4th and my No. 1 
priority was and still is to ensure the safety of everyone in our 
college community and ensure a strong economic recovery.

    Known as ``democracy's college,'' Miami Dade College is the 
Nation's most diverse institution of higher education with a student 
body representing 167 nations and one of the largest with more than 
120,000 students. Changing lives through accessible, high-quality 
teaching and learning experiences, MDC embraces its responsibility to 
serve as an economic, cultural, and civic leader for the advancement of 
its diverse, global population. Very few institutions have had a 
greater impact on regions they serve than MDC, which has more than 2 
million alumni. Its employees, students, alumni, programs and events 
contribute more than $3.3 billion annually to Miami-Dade County's 
economy. Offering more than 300 distinct career pathways, MDC is at the 
cutting-edge of technology and innovation with hundreds of strategic 
workforce partnerships with global companies and organizations. We put 
community at the center of everything we do, and this was evident 
during our COVID 19 response and reopening.

    Since the beginning of the pandemic, Miami Dade College's aim has 
been to reopen as soon as possible while keeping the safety, health, 
and security of our students and employees as our top priority. In 
keeping with national, state, and local guidelines, we pivoted to 
virtual learning at the onset of the pandemic in under 2 weeks and 
immediately established a taskforce to review issues and adjust 
operations on a day-to-day basis. Following CDC recommendations and 
social distancing guidelines, we brought back select face-to-face 
classes last summer that could not be replicated in a virtual 
environment. Following a detailed 3 phase plan, we brought back 
additional classes in the Fall 2020 term, with more in-person classes 
added in Spring 2021. We also introduced new learning modalities such 
as MDC LIVE to better serve students and their evolving needs. As we 
work through our phased approach in a deliberate and strategic way, we 
hope to return to normalcy and a full class resumption in Fall 2021.

    The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act 
signed into law March 28, 2020, provided almost $14 billion that went 
directly to higher education institutions to support the costs of 
shifting classes online, and for emergency financial aid grants for 
food, housing, technology, and any component of the student's cost of 
attendance or emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus. With 
additional funding announced earlier this year. MDC received more than 
$50 million during the first round of awards, which went almost 
entirely to students through student aid to ensure they enrolled and 
remained enrolled. The funding recognized the unprecedented financial 
burden that colleges, universities, and their students faced from the 
impacts of the pandemic. CARES dollars additionally provided regulatory 
relief and flexibility to ensure institutions had the necessary 
resources to keep everyone safe and continue to deliver high quality 
instruction.

    Of important note is the role MDC has played in helping Greater 
Miami recover from the pandemic by not only offering many free and low-
cost courses and programs in emerging industries since the outset of 
the pandemic but also serving as the largest and most successful COVID-
19 vaccination sites in the southeast U.S., administering more than 
350,000 shots to date.
                           How MDC responded
    Miami Dade College took a proactive approach to prepare for and 
respond to the coronavirus pandemic as early as January. The College 
already had a robust emergency management program that supports the 
continuity of operations by incorporating a comprehensive emergency 
management plan that ensures we leverage all our resources in an 
interconnected way that treats the College as a whole.

    We stayed focused on our people-centered mission as it was 
important for us at Miami Dade College to cultivate a true sense of 
safety and preparedness in all our key decisions as they would impact 
thousands of students and employees.

    MDC is a large and complex organization. That is a fundamental 
consideration as to how we respond to emergencies. We activated our 
collegewide crisis management team, which included key institutional 
leadership, and activated the district emergency operation center. This 
core team streamlines the decision-making process and coordinates all 
efforts across our 8 campuses and centers. It was important for Miami 
Dade College to cultivate a true sense of safety and preparedness in 
all our key decisions as they would impact thousands of students and 
employees.

    To that end, we implemented an enhanced cleaning protocol at the 
very beginning of the pandemic and trained hundreds of our 
environmental staff to promote a healthy and safe campus by cleaning 
frequently touched surfaces and encouraged the entire MDC community to 
practice good hygiene practices such as proper hand washing and 
sanitation of work areas.

    A crucial part of this transition was our faculty. Miami Dade 
College faculty rose to the COVID-19 challenge that required a 
transition of thousands of classes to remote instruction. In a period 
of 2 weeks we transitioned 4,000 in-person courses to various remote 
learning platforms while training our faculty to transition to new 
deliveries of learning in a remote environment to support our students 
and finish. The immediacy of the situation necessitated a level of 
flexibility and agility not known before in higher education. With a 
speedy activation of faculty professional development on remote and 
online delivery, we were able to provide just-intime-training to 
hundreds of full-time and adjunct faculty. Considering MDC had just 
over 2000 faculty, managing change at this scale sparked mobilization 
of the entire academic enterprise and I believe has accelerated 
positive change.

    Expanding our online offerings became a long-term strategy by 
increasing the use of blended or hybrid modalities with the goal of 
leveraging them to meet future College, faculty, and student needs. It 
was felt that to maintain efficacy as the educational landscape 
changes, an academic support system prioritizing instructional 
technology and faculty development was necessary.
                            Student Support
    With tens of thousands of certificate and degree seeking students, 
the transition to remote learning was a massive undertaking, 
particularly considering the student population MDC serves. Students at 
Miami Dade College are traditionally underserved; nearly 60 percent 
low-income and almost 50 percent were non-native English speakers. 
Knowing that our students had challenges beyond academic ones, we 
quickly mobilized to address financial and technology needs. As well 
documented in the research by the Hope Center regarding students 
enrolled in community college identifying as food and housing insecure, 
MDC students also face those same challenges. The college provided 
thousands of students emergency grant funding and expanded our food 
pantries. We partnered with community agencies to host food 
distribution events on each campus that served our students and 
community. In addition, we partnered with Single Stop to connect 
students with additional Federal resources.

    After deploying a student survey to assess needs, we acquired 5000 
laptops and set up a distribution protocol to distribute laptops. We 
also forged a partnership with Comcast to offer free internet access on 
the Xfinity WiFi Hotspot Network across the community and encouraged 
eligible low-income students to sign up for 60 days of free ``Internet 
Essentials'' home internet service at increased speeds. Additionally, 
our IT infrastructure was fortified to accommodate exponentially more 
students in a remote environment, including technical and real-time 
assistance capacities.
                           Financial Support
    Financial assistance was also a major component of our student 
support efforts. We waived and paid fees, expanded our emergency aid, 
and provided stipends, tuition waivers, and books to ensure all our 
students had continuity of instruction. We also were committed to 
ensuring their basic needs were met, knowing that our population was 
disproportionally impacted by the panic. We also hosted various food 
distribution events at many of our campuses and encouraged students to 
seek mental health counseling though various resources available 
through MDC.

    Like most institutions, MDC continued to realize increased expenses 
due to the pandemic as online instructional delivery had many costs 
associated with it with the adoption of many new software platforms and 
technology. The CARES Act funding provides us the relief necessary to 
ensure were able to provide high quality instruction. The College 
bought thousands of laptops for students so that they could continue to 
remain engaged via remote learning.

    Beyond education, we also had the physical requirements that the 
``new normal'' compelled us to adapt to--which also brought on costs. 
To keep our employees and students safe and comply with CDC, Federal, 
and State guidelines, the College invested in significant resources 
into plant, property, and equipment, as well as updated operational 
processes. This included physical barriers such as the glass shields 
and other barriers and changes that were needed to ensure the safety 
and health of our students and employees and the increased and enhanced 
cleaning protocols that remain with us until today. Additionally we had 
screening protocols and temperature checks to ensure the safety of 
everyone in our community.

    Even with all the financial help we provided, students still had a 
difficult time staying enrolled and engaged. During this unprecedented 
time, education was no longer the priority as students switched into 
survival mode. Instead of learning, focus was on keeping a roof over 
their head and serving as caregivers for their families. Many of our 
students come from households that are multigenerational. As family 
needs shifted and the possibility of COVID infections became a reality, 
many students stayed away to protect their families.
                               The Future
    As we look to the Fall, we are putting measures in place to ensure 
we are fully operational in a better, more resilient normal. What the 
last year has shown us is the need to be adaptable and agile. It has 
taught us that our student population and the community count on us to 
keep them safe and lead in moments of uncertainty. They are also 
counting on us to support them in the economic recovery. We continue to 
see the impact of the pandemic during our recovery, like so many 
minority and low-income individuals across the country. Many did not 
have the ability to transition to remote work and lost jobs and wages. 
We are committed to leading the post-pandemic economic recovery of our 
community to ensure everyone has the skills, credentials and degrees to 
meet the changing needs of work. The pandemic accelerated the way we 
must teach but it also accelerated the future of work. As one of the 
largest colleges in the country and one of the largest employers in 
Miami-Dade County, it is vital that we take the lessons learned from 
the pandemic and build for the future.

    My optimism for the future is possible because of the support 
provided by the state and Federal Government. The support our students 
and institution received to ensure we remained operational with the 
proper tools and resources through the CARES Act played a large part. I 
also remain optimistic because our students count on us.
                                 ______
                                 
               [summary statement of madeline pumariega]
    Good morning, Chair Murray, Ranking Member, and Members of the 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Thank you for 
inviting me to testify at today's hearing.

    My name is Madeline Pumariega and I am the President of Miami Dade 
College. I was elected the 5th President of Miami Dade College during 
the pandemic. My first day as President was January 4th and my No. 1 
priority was and still is to ensure the safety of everyone in our 
college community and ensure we have a strong economic recovery.

    Known as ``democracy's college,'' Miami Dade College is the 
Nation's most diverse institution of higher education with a student 
body representing 167 nations and one of the largest with more than 
120,000 students. Changing lives through accessible, high-quality 
teaching and learning experiences, MDC embraces its responsibility to 
serve as an economic, cultural, and civic leader for the advancement of 
its diverse, global population. Very few institutions have had a 
greater impact on regions they serve than MDC, which has more than 2 
million alumni. Its employees, students, alumni, programs and events 
contribute more than $3.3 billion annually to Miami-Dade County's 
economy. Offering more than 300 distinct career pathways, MDC is at the 
cutting-edge of technology and innovation with hundreds of strategic 
workforce partnerships with global companies and organizations. We put 
community at the center of everything we do, and this was evident 
during our COVID-19 response and reopening.

    Since the beginning of the pandemic, Miami Dade College's aim has 
been to reopen as soon as possible while keeping the safety, health, 
and security of our students and employees as our top priority. In 
keeping with national, state, and local guidelines, we pivoted to 
virtual learning at the onset of the pandemic in under 2 weeks and 
immediately established a taskforce to review issues and adjust 
operations on a day-to-day basis. Following CDC recommendations and 
social distancing guidelines, we brought back select face-to-face 
classes last summer that could not be replicated in a virtual 
environment. Following a detailed 3-phase plan, we brought back 
additional classes in the Fall 2020 term, with more in-person classes 
added in Spring 2021. We also introduced new learning modalities such 
as MDC LIVE to better serve students and their evolving needs. As we 
work through our phased approach in a deliberate and strategic way, we 
hope to return to normalcy and a full class resumption in Fall 2021.

    The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act 
signed into law March 28, 2020, provided almost $14 billion that went 
directly to higher education institutions to support the costs of 
shifting classes online, and for emergency financial aid grants for 
food, housing, technology, and any component of the student's cost of 
attendance or emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus. With 
additional funding announced earlier this year. MDC received more than 
$50 million during the first round of awards, which went almost 
entirely to students through student aid to ensure they enrolled and 
remained enrolled. The funding recognized the unprecedented financial 
burden that colleges, universities, and their students faced from the 
impacts of the pandemic. CARES dollars additionally provided regulatory 
relief and flexibility to ensure institutions had the necessary 
resources to keep everyone safe and continue to deliver high quality 
instruction.

    Of important note is the role MDC has played in helping Greater 
Miami recover from the pandemic by not only offering many free and low-
cost courses and programs in emerging industries since the outset of 
the pandemic but also serving as the largest and most successful COVID-
19 vaccination site in the southeast U.S., administering more than 
350,000 shots to date.

    As we look to the Fall, we are putting measures in place to ensure 
we are fully operational in a better, more resilient normal. What the 
last year has shown us is the need to be adaptable and agile. It has 
taught us that our student population and the community count on us to 
keep them safe and lead in moments of uncertainty. They are also 
counting on us to support them in the economic recovery. We continue to 
see the impact of the pandemic during our recovery, like so many 
minority and low-income individuals across the country. Many did not 
have the ability to transition to remote work and lost jobs and wages. 
We are committed to leading the post-pandemic economic recovery of our 
community to ensure everyone has the skills, credentials and degrees to 
meet the changing needs of work. The pandemic accelerated the way we 
must teach but it also accelerated the future of work. As one of the 
largest colleges in the country and one of the largest employers in 
Miami-Dade County, it is vital that we take the lessons learned from 
the pandemic and build for the future.
                                 ______
                                 
    The Chair. Thank you very much. Thank you to all of our 
witnesses today for your important testimony. We will now begin 
a round of 5 minute questions. And I again ask our colleagues 
to keep track of the clock and stay within those 5 minutes. We 
do have votes beginning at 11:30 a.m.
    Ms. Copeland-Morgan, I want to start with you. Students 
have faced unprecedented challenges over the past year, as you 
know, in a year and a half actually from the pandemic and the 
economic recession. With a lot of our students experiencing 
significant financial harm, according to Hope Center study 
released this March, 60 percent of college students did not 
have what is called basic needs security during the pandemic 
because of lack of access to nutrition, insufficient food, 
safe, secure, inadequate housing, health care to promote 
sustained mental and physical well-being, technology, and 
transportation resources for personal hygiene, childcare, and 
other related needs.
    That study also showed these challenges are more severe for 
Black students. In fact, the gap between Black students and 
their peers in basic needs insecurity was 16 percentage points, 
further confirming disparities we have long known to be true. 
Additionally, a May 2021 survey released by the National 
Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators showed 
students continued to make increased requests for professional 
judgment. Professional judgment allows financial aid 
administrators to make changes to a student's FAFSA during 
unusual circumstances on a case by case basis. So, Ms. 
Copeland, I want to ask you, can you share how UCLA used its 
Federal funding to make sure students' financial and basic 
needs were addressed?
    Ms. Copeland-Morgan. Thank you for the question. First of 
all, I should mention that it as a public institution, our 
responsibility and our mission is to make sure that we are 
serving all students across the State of California. That means 
we have a disproportionate number of students who were first 
generation college students who are outstanding and are 
graduating from the university in rates that are not seen 
enough across our country.
    The first appeals that we got was all about technology. We 
said that students were safer at home, and you can study from 
home, but that was not true for so many of our students. And so 
we spent a lot of money paying for computers and Internet 
service, giving WiFi and other kind of technologies, 
particularly for graduate students, for example, who were at 
the end of their graduate work, whose studies required that 
they be in laboratories and conduct complicated scientific 
research.
    We reached out broadly across our graduates and 
undergraduate and professional students to ensure that they had 
what they needed. Food insecurity, as I have stated, is a huge 
problem in our Nation, in our cities, and certainly in the city 
of Los Angeles. These students were struggling prior to COVID-
19. And the funds that we received could not have been more 
timely across the University of California system. My 
colleagues who oversee financial aid, we all got together and 
got those funds out quickly so that students would not drop out 
of college because that presents another problem should they 
drop out and stay out.
    Again, I just want to emphasize how important these funds 
are. And if I may take a moment to share with you. In the 70's, 
I was one of those first generation college students. I got 
into this profession because of Federal work study job that I 
had for 3 years. I know the plight that our students face and 
the investment in students now will relieve the obligation of 
us investing in them in the future.
    The Chair. Thank you very much. Mr. Harris, thank you again 
for your testimony. In addition to the financial challenges, I 
am concerned about the mental health challenges that students 
have faced throughout this pandemic. A recent study found that 
first year students reported significantly higher levels of 
depression and anxiety in the wake of the pandemic, and Black 
students were more likely to report concerns related to 
isolation. You served as a resident assistant, spent a lot of 
time with first year students. Can you speak to us about some 
of the challenges you have seen students experience as they 
return now to campus?
    Mr. Harris. Yes. Thank you for the question. Students on 
Baldwin Wallace's campus in particular found themselves at a 
disadvantage because they were disattached from the people who 
they are typically able to interact with, like their fellow 
peers. And then also because we weren't able to interact with 
one another during the pandemic, they couldn't speak to their 
advisers and teachers more actively and in person. And I think 
part of that affected them in a very negative way.
    As a resident assistant, I had to work with a lot of 
students over the past year who had suicidal ideation because 
they felt alone and felt disattached from the university and 
from their peers. So I think that we could benefit from more 
access to one another and the resources. I think our students 
need more access to the resources that are provided on campus 
so that they can overcome these challenges on campus. Thank 
you.
    The Chair. Thank you very much for that response. I 
appreciate it.
    Senator Burr.
    Senator Burr. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Mr. Harris, when do you graduate?
    Mr. Harris. Actually I should have graduated this past 
spring, but because of that disattachment that I spoke about 
just a moment ago, I was postponed and now I have to graduate 
this spring.
    The Chair. What is your major?
    Mr. Harris. I am an actor.
    The Chair. Well, let me tell you, you are going to be 
successful at whatever you choose to do. I can tell it. Keep it 
up.
    Mr. Harris. Thank you.
    Senator Burr. President Verret, as I understand it, Xavier 
will require students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated 
before you return this fall. What led you to implement this 
requirement? Turn on your mic, if you will.
    Dr. Verret. We have learned many things through the 
pandemic. We have really optimized what we were able to do 
remotely when we had to be fully remote. We also learned that 
also our students benefit from the collegial interaction, not 
only with the faculty and with their peers that need to be in 
the laboratories, and the in-person interactions were very 
important for our students. We have an opportunity with the 
vaccines, that now we know that vaccine protect individuals 
significantly who are vaccinated, that we can return--if we 
have maximally vaccinated our campus, we can return to full in-
person activity.
    Xavier produces more African-Americans who go on to 
doctoral programs in the life sciences and physical sciences 
and have been doing that for decades. To be able to do that, 
they have to be in laboratories. They have to play and practice 
at being scientists. The same with historian practices, being a 
historian in the archives, or musician in the conservatory. So 
being in person is very important for the success of our 
students. Vaccination will allow us to do that, so that we are 
asking that all students be vaccinated and also all employees 
be vaccinated. We are also allowing for the exceptions that the 
law requires.
    But in doing so, we also have to make sure that we also do 
not allow those who are not vaccinated to be a danger to those 
because of whatever medical reasons cannot be protected by the 
vaccines. There are some--there is a small percentage of people 
who will not be immune. Protection means that we do not expose 
them to others who can contact infect them. Therefore we would 
have to have special conditions for those who cannot be 
vaccinated on campus, because of safety reasons.
    Senator Burr. You have a unique background because you are 
an immunologist, I guess by practicing.
    Dr. Verret. By experience, training and research, yes.
    Senator Burr. You are a university president. Help us 
understand how you explained this policy to your faculty, to 
your students, to their parents?
    Dr. Verret. Well, I can tell you that we have had 
conversations because many people have questions. You have to 
respond to their questions. For example, even at the early days 
when I and my colleague at Dillard University, we were both in 
one of the clinical trials. There was somebody that asked, how 
could you actually give the example of encouraging people to be 
in clinical trials? And we explained to them we had to have 
meetings, explain to them why it was important that some 
people, 0.1 percent of the population, has to be in the trials 
that others can benefit, and therefore old men like me have to 
roll up their sleeves. So we explained that.
    Senator Burr. What advice would you give other colleges and 
universities as they plan for the fall when they are faced with 
the decisions that you have been faced with and you have made? 
What would be your advice to them?
    Dr. Verret. Tell the truth. Have venues to answer people's 
questions. Let them know what they--what we are facing. For 
example, one of the simple facts is that--and Washington State 
is a clear example. Washington State publish the data for the 
death rates of unvaccinated versus vaccinated people. It allows 
you to make a simple calculation. It was quite simple. That 
allows you to see that basically the risk of death for 
unvaccinated people is about 17 to 20 times higher than for 
vaccinated people. Anything like that to explain to people that 
this is very serious.
    We will begin to see, especially with a new variant like 
the Delta variant coming ashore, much more transmissible, the 
unvaccinated people will suffer a great toll. So we have to 
tell people the truth that we are here to protect you. The 
other piece that we have at Xavier because of our carriers, and 
what I say is that were founded by Katherine Drexel with a 
mission to serve not just the Nation, but also each other. So 
the conversation is that we do not want to be a risk to each 
other.
    In other words, you are doing this so as not to endanger 
your neighbor. That mentality reverses the notion that is 
purely what is in it for me.
    Senator Burr. It has shocked me through this pandemic and 
through the transition that higher ed has gone through, that it 
seems that the faculty members that thought pre-pandemic online 
education as a new avenue are the ones today that only want to 
teach online. What a transformation we have gone through. But I 
commend you and the other institutions that have looked at the 
challenge in front of us and designed a structure to go 
forward. And I think it truly is, because you are focused on 
your customer which is the student out there, and the value of 
what they get from Xavier or from any other school. I thank all 
of our witnesses. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    The Chair. Thank you.
    Senator Kaine.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you, Chair Murray and Ranking Member 
Burr. This is a very important hearing and the testimony of all 
the witnesses is appreciated. Chair Murray, you asked the 
question of our wonderful student about mental health, and I 
want to direct that to the educators and administrators as 
well. The Department of Education, in the updated guidance 
about the higher education relief fund that they issued on May 
11, clarified that HEERF funding can be used for additional 
mental health support systems for college students.
    I would like to hear you talk about how you are grappling 
with providing appropriate mental health services to deal with 
the isolation, financial pressures that kids are facing, their 
worries about their own health, the health of the parents, and 
of their parents and people that they care about. If you could 
each address that, that would be great. Thank you.
    Ms. Copeland-Morgan. Thank you for your question, Senator. 
As you all know, mental health has been a growing concern in 
higher education for the last 20 years. And we are seeing more 
and more of our students coming to us needing services. That 
said, with the pandemic, everyone has--if we are honest, 
everyone has suffered during this pandemic. And so our 
institution used a portion of the CARES and HEERF I and HEERF 
II funds to put moneys into mental health services for our 
students.
    We encouraged students to reach out, even in a normal year 
when they are suffering anxiety or feeling depressed or feeling 
isolated, because we know that students cannot focus on their 
studies if they are dealing with those issues. So these funds, 
again, were critical in both our ability to say to all 
students, we have the resources to serve you, call us. Our 
mental health folks across the system made telephone 
appointments so students could have easy access to these 
services and not have to come on campus, of course.
    We would not have been able to do that. Higher education 
has suffered immensely financially. And so these funds are 
making a huge difference. And the thing that I really 
appreciate about students reaching out and getting these 
services is they become peer advocates for others to do that, 
because when one student steps out and says, I am having 
difficulties managing home and work, I am having difficulties 
as a parent and a student, our former foster youth who make up 
a large portion of our students in the UC system, they didn't 
have anyone to go to help them understand and navigate the 
challenges of COVID-19.
    We use those funds not only for mental health services, but 
for other services, for our returning vets, for our parenting 
students, and for those students from rural communities, who, 
again, I think has from our experience, the greatest impact on 
them because of the lack of technologies.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you. Dr. Verret and then President 
Pumariega.
    Dr. Verret. If I may, I have to agree with my colleague 
that mental health needs have increased from COVID. But even 
before COVID, we also already had been dealing with the 
increasing need. We had--we were establishing already--we had 
established what I call students at risk committees to begin to 
see not only that students would come when needs arise, but to 
be able to have many eyes on campus to see exactly when the 
need comes in.
    For example, for students' behavior performance in class is 
creating flags, that student is discussed in committee because 
many eyes, the residential counselors can bring in to make sure 
that we are proactive in meeting that. In the COVID period, 
that need has increased. We clearly increase our reliance upon 
telehealth services, contracting and expanding our capacity to 
have these outside providers available to students so that we 
can provide services that were much more diverse and much 
wider. And that is something I can say much that we have 
learned during the pandemic. Some of this we will keep to be 
able to make that accessible.
    There is also training not only in the student affairs side 
of the campus, but also in the academic staff, in giving the 
fundamental tools to faculty to be able to recognize and be 
able to call fouls and get information to the right people. 
Those resources are clearly needed. I think we also have issues 
were using our academic support, because many of the, what I 
call anxieties of being a student may not be clinically 
considered, but also having the academic support staff to give 
students the wherewithal to understand that this can pass and 
here is a pathway to resolve this academic need, which is 
creating a burden, is important as well.
    Senator Kaine. Great. My time has expired. But possibly one 
of my colleagues might ask President Pumariega a similar 
question and let her offer----
    The Chair. We will let her have a minute to respond.
    Senator Kaine. Okay, thank you, Madam Chair.
    President Pumariega.
    Ms. Pumariega. Thank you, Senator. That is a wonderful 
question. We at Miami-Dade College augmented mental health 
counseling services by adding more mental health specialists on 
the ground, helping students, faculty, and staff. The second 
thing that we did is we partnered with our county 211 helpline 
so that we could ensure that we had 24/7. And the third is we 
added telehealth services so that students could get to a 
counselor, both virtually and in person.
    Then last, we have added an early alert system where our 
faculty members, who are the first really to sometimes see the 
change and pattern in a student or that withdrawal, be able to 
give our mental health counselors an early alert so we can 
provide those interventions. Thank you for the question and the 
opportunity to answer it.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Murray.
    The Chair. Thank you.
    Senator Cassidy.
    Senator Cassidy. I thank you all. Again, Mr. Harris, I echo 
what Senator Burr said. Man, good job. And what a great story. 
So just to say that. And I think what Mr. Harris also said is 
that some of his peers, because of the pandemic, are facing 
mental health challenges. I would argue that one way to treat 
this is to recreate the community, which is not created over 
zoom, but rather is created by people actually sitting next to 
each other, going to baseball games, and otherwise 
participating in life. Zoom atomizes. Schools bring people 
together. Now, Dr. Pumariega, are you all requiring 
immunization for your students and faculties, as is UCLA and 
the gold rush at Xavier?
    Ms. Pumariega. No, sir.
    Senator Cassidy. Now, first, why not, and then I have a 
follow-up. So first, why not?
    Ms. Pumariega. We want to make sure that we provide access 
to vaccinations, but that we don't put any barriers to 
individuals being able to come back to college, to retool, get 
the skills that they----
    Senator Cassidy. Now, let me ask you--let me ask you. I 
have limited time. I am sorry to interrupt. Would you--I gather 
a little bit from Dr. Verret's testimony that if you are 
vaccinated, you have greater freedom, and if not, perhaps you 
are going to be required to wear a mask. He didn't say that, 
but he implied that there is going to be something. With your 
school knowing that people coming back reconnects community, 
improves educational experience, will those who are vaccinated 
have extra freedom as opposed to those who are not?
    Ms. Pumariega. That is what we have implemented right now. 
If you are fully vaccinated on campus, you do not have to wear 
face coverings. We are asking you if you are not fully 
vaccinated, that you continue to wear face covering on campus 
today.
    Senator Cassidy. Now, you have also been very successful, 
350,000 people vaccinated through your programs. And it appears 
that you have a fair amount of those who would be thought of as 
vaccine skeptics, think anybody less than 25, particularly men, 
since they tend to think themselves invulnerable. So how did 
you--how were you so successful at implementing this vaccine 
program?
    Ms. Pumariega. I think with the support. It was several 
sites that came out, ran the vaccination center, along with the 
state emergency management. But because Miami-Dade College is 
so trusted in the community, I believe that we had that type of 
success. Because of the trust that we garnered, we have 
probably impacted every household in Miami-Dade County, and 
then we have continued pop up vaccine sites on every campus as 
well.
    Senator Cassidy. I am hearing something similar to what Dr. 
Verret said, which is that you have trust, you built 
communication, but you also have a long track record of being 
involved in the community and so the trust is already there. 
Mr. Harris, I am a doctor. I am very sensitive to personal 
health information. You can plead the fifth if you want, but 
have you been vaccinated?
    Mr. Harris. Yes, I would first like to tell you, I do not 
take offense to the invulnerability comments. We can take all 
of the world. But yes, I have been vaccinated.
    Senator Cassidy. What about your peers? Are your peers open 
to immunization or not?
    Mr. Harris. Many of my peers are open to immunization. And 
that is because a lot of these top----
    Senator Cassidy. Let me stop you. Many is an elastic word. 
You see what I am saying? And so would you say--give me a 
percent? You say 10 percent or 90 percent?
    Mr. Harris. I would say 80 percent.
    Senator Cassidy. What is the message that gets them 
vaccinated? Because I do find that those below a certain age 
tend to be, a little bit less concerned about getting things 
such as immunizations.
    Mr. Harris. Well, let me just say one, hearing from your 
peers and being almost pressured by your peers to do things is 
one thing. So me being like a member of their community, they 
want to get a vaccine because they see me get a vaccine. And 
two, because of people who are young, want to live their lives 
believe it or not. So with restrictions and people not being 
able to do as much or to have more restrictions, people want to 
get the vaccine----
    Senator Cassidy. What I think I am hearing from you, Mr. 
Harris, that requirements such as Xavier or UCLA are placing 
actually is a positive and it is not coercive, but it is a kind 
of signal that you can live life more freely if you are 
completely immunized?
    Mr. Harris. It is an encouragement, and really would 
encourage people to get vaccinated.
    Senator Cassidy. It is one thing to speak about these kind 
of small schools, Ms. Copeland-Morgan. But UCLA is huge. I 
can't imagine how many students UCLA has. So if you are putting 
in this mandatory vaccine policy, how is that being received by 
the tens of thousands of people who attend?
    Ms. Copeland-Morgan. I will say, Senator, that it is being 
received well. There are a couple of things. One is we try to 
be honest, open, and transparent to all of our constituents. We 
have great partners in the community. And the University of 
California system has the benefit of a world class health 
system. And so we have called upon those professionals in our 
health area to help us to get the right messages out to our 
students, to communicate with parents. And I should say that we 
have a history of requiring students to be immunized against 
certain----
    Senator Cassidy. That is an important point. You can't 
enroll in higher education without being immunized against 
hepatitis B, meningococcal and other things, right?
    Ms. Copeland-Morgan. Exactly.
    Senator Cassidy. It is kind of a paradigm we have already 
adopted.
    Ms. Copeland-Morgan. Exactly. And our student body, our 
student leaders have endorsed this. They are part of everything 
that we do, including the distribution of our HEERF funds.
    Senator Cassidy. Can I ask you one more thing? Now, 
typically, hepatitis B is included in the, what is called 
vaccine immunization system. So someone is vaccinated at birth, 
they enroll in college, and then they can log on that school 
and say, oh, yes, you have been vaccinated for hepatitis B, you 
don't need to be vaccinated. Are you all putting that 
information regarding a student's immunization history into 
your California vaccine immunization system?
    Ms. Copeland-Morgan. We are indeed. Again, we spent about 
three to four years educating students on this requirement, 
gave students an opportunity to self-sort of comply with those, 
and then made it mandatory the year after that. And it is a 
culture. Students want to be safe. They want to hang out with 
their peers. They want to have the freedoms that come with 
that. And parents as well. And so we found that a very 
thoughtful communication plan across the University of 
California system that has over 200,000 students, that 
students--and as Mr. Harris said, that along with that campaign 
and their peers, students have been quite willing to get 
vaccinated. And of course, we do respect the rights of others 
who choose not to be vaccinated.
    Senator Cassidy. I am going to stop you there because the 
Chair is about to shoot me for going so long over.
    The Chair. I always learn from you, Senator Cassidy.
    Senator Cassidy. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    The Chair. Alright. Thank you.
    Senator Lujan.
    Senator Lujan. Thank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member, 
for holding this important hearing to discuss how COVID has 
impacted higher education and students, and how the $40 billion 
provided in the American Rescue Plan has helped colleges to 
reopen safely. And I want to thank each and every one of the 
witnesses for being here today as well. President Pumariega, as 
the President of Miami Dade College, you know full well the 
needs of your campuses, including those that are Hispanic 
serving institutions.
    The three rounds of higher education emergency relief funds 
have totaled $77 billion, much less than the $183 billion in 
estimated cost incurred by colleges during the pandemic. I 
understand that your institution received more than $50 million 
during the first round of awards, which went almost entirely to 
student aid. Yes or no, has the funding from the COVID-19 
recovery packages covered all of the costs incurred by your 
Hispanic serving institution campuses?
    Ms. Pumariega. Yes, sir. What we have done is, as you said, 
put the aid out to students and help students be able to come 
back, stay in college, finish their degree or earn that 
credential to be able to go to work.
    Senator Lujan. President Pumariega, the question I asked 
was, did the recovery package cover all the costs incurred by 
your Hispanic serving institution campuses? You pointed to 
student aid.
    Ms. Pumariega. Correct, and so I think there is three 
buckets of the Federal aid dollars that come in. One, the 
student aid that goes directly to students are intended to help 
them with emergency funds. And the second aspect of it is the 
institutional aid in which Miami-Dade College, we used much of 
that institutional aid to help students, to support students 
with their educational costs. And then the other aspect of it, 
utilizing it for technology infrastructure, utilizing it for 
revenue replacement, utilizing it for PPE and the safety 
protocols.
    Senator Lujan. Were there class that exceeded the money you 
received from the Federal Government?
    Ms. Pumariega. Sir, I would have to--right now, what we 
have done, that would say we would be operating at a deficit 
and the college and our position with our board is not to 
operate in a deficit. We, in turn, have not only had a freeze 
in positions at the college, but also taken many steps to 
reduce our budget and our cost to balance our budget.
    Senator Lujan. You have got to make decisions to reduce 
services because of the increased costs, that way you can meet 
your mandate of not operating in a deficit?
    Ms. Pumariega. Yes, sir.
    Senator Lujan. Would you agree that Hispanic serving 
institutions need more funding to counter the effects of the 
pandemic and the years of chronic underfunding?
    Ms. Pumariega. Absolutely. When you think about Miami-Dade 
College, 74 percent of our students are Hispanics. When you 
think about just in Miami-Dade County, the percentage of 
students that hold the postsecondary credential, which we know 
is a path to prosperity to compete for that life sustaining 
job, we see where there is a lag among our Hispanic community 
and especially in areas in Miami-Dade County, South Homestead 
area, more rural than, maybe in the heart of urban downtown.
    Senator Lujan. There are currently 569 Hispanic serving 
institutions nationwide, 24 in New Mexico. Loan agencies 
continue to face financial burdens, and these burdens have been 
exacerbated by COVID-19. While HSIs are experiencing a 
declining enrollment revenue, they are working hard to bring 
the students safely back to campus in the aftermath of the 
pandemic.
    For example, Northern New Mexico College, an HSI in my 
state, had to transform its approach to student services 
offering financial food, hygiene, and broadband assistance over 
the past year. How can the Federal Government and our support 
further assist Hispanic serving institutions to ensure that 
they are adequately and safely serving the 5.4 million 
undergraduate and graduate students who are returning to their 
campuses?
    Ms. Pumariega. Senator, that is an excellent question. I 
think it is a multi-pronged approach. In terms of looking at 
financial support, expanding Pell Grant and Pell Grant 
eligibility, I think that looking at short term Pell is also an 
important aspect. Some of our students want to come back and 
level up, if you will, retool with a rapid response credential 
or stack that up against maybe an associate of arts that they 
may have. Strengthening seamless transfer pathways is another 
important aspect.
    80 percent--a Georgetown study demonstrates that 80 percent 
of Latinos across the country enroll in open access 
institutions like our community colleges and then require to 
transfer to a university to finish that baccalaureate degree. 
So anywhere we can strengthen those transfer pathways I think 
is very important for us to accelerate student success outcomes 
among Hispanic students across the country, and also looking at 
aligning pathways to work and making sure that our promise 
programs also have an element of aligning our degree programs 
to those workforce into the jobs that are there.
    Those are just a couple of areas that I think our policies 
would help enhance and accelerate student outcomes and success.
    Senator Lujan. Mr. Harris, I had a question for you. I 
apologize. I could not get to it. I will file it into the 
record. I want to thank you for lifting up your voice here and 
especially with your leadership with the Black Student Alliance 
as well. So thanks for being here today, sir. And look forward 
hearing back from you. And with that, I yield back.
    The Chair. Senator Hickenlooper.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair and 
Ranking Member Burr. I want to thank all of you for being here. 
I always find these panels so illuminating. We have seen in 
this pandemic a number of innovative breakthroughs in 
technology to try and track the COVID-19 outbreaks, the 
variants, the vaccination rates. In the Western Slope area of 
Colorado, Colorado Mesa University entered into a very 
successful partnership with the Road Institute at MIT and 
Harvard to develop an app called Skout to track symptoms and 
possible outbreaks on campuses as they are happening in real 
time.
    I thought Dr. Verret, I would ask you and maybe President 
Pumariega, is this type of partnership between a research 
institution and a university system something that you guys 
have considered on your campuses? And I mean, how are you going 
to go about monitoring any possible flare ups when you reopen 
this fall?
    Dr. Verret. We have had a number of collaboration with lab 
research institutions, not only in our cities, but also through 
our Center for Health Disparities are monitoring disease in our 
city and region. What I would say is that the key that we have 
had on our campus is to have surveillance testing, meaning we 
are testing routinely monthly anywhere from 6 to 10 percent of 
our campus population of students and faculty members to see 
what the prevalence of infection on campus was.
    The major collaboration for us was funded through 
initiatives with Thermo Fisher, one of the large testing on 
device manufacturers in Massachusetts, and so with funding from 
the Gates Foundation to establish a laboratory where we had 
three high throughput machines. Those machines provided testing 
not only for Xavier campus, but for several institutions in our 
region, including several HBCUs in both Southern--in both Texas 
and in our region as well. So samples were being shipped to us 
and the results were being returned for those samples sets, 
several hundreds, within 48 hours.
    They allowed us to actually track the illness and be able 
to make decisions. For example, one of the decision points we 
would have is that if prevalence rose above a certain levels, 
are we returning to remote instruction? One of the other 
reasons why we had students in single occupancy dormitories is 
that we were not sending them home because we know we would not 
send them home to infect their communities. So they would 
remain unfilled until the surge had passed.
    We were tracking to make sure that we were not becoming a 
danger not only to our community in New Orleans, but also to 
large communities as well. But ongoing surveillance testing was 
very important. Our data was being shared with the state and 
also with other organizations as well.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Alright. Got it. And President 
Pumariega, similar?
    Ms. Pumariega. Senator, that is a great question. We, in 
partnership with Florida International University, they--many 
of our universities in Florida launched COVID apps. So it was 
much better to leverage those partnerships. But I do think that 
one of the things that we did is really add COVID testing on 
our campuses. That really does help in terms of what the doctor 
just said, monitoring the, the positivity rate alongside with 
the county.
    Work closely with the county and with our sister 
institutions. Because our colleges are commuter campus, average 
age is 26. Our students are working while they study, not 
living on campus. We have to really rely on the partnership 
with the county positivity rate and work in concert with them.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Got it. Well, I appreciate that. And 
actually, I don't think I have to ask Ms. Copeland-Morgan, just 
because you already are a major research institution. I guess 
all of you are in your own ways. I do think that the scout 
application that came out of the Road Institute--I mean, it 
does help follow who they have talked to and allows you in real 
time if someone does come out with symptoms and then turn out 
to be COVID positive, that you can track very quickly the 
impact and I think really tamp down, a flare up. Real quickly, 
in terms of serving adverse students, another thing in Colorado 
Mesa University that they tried with, I think, great success to 
keep students on campus. And this is a school with a majority 
of kids of color, all low income, and that any missed campus 
experience would be an impediment.
    Again, Dr. Verret and President Pumariega, your 
institutions have so many of these students as well, how have 
you prioritized the campus experience while still making sure 
that you ensure their safety? Certainly there is more at the 
Federal level--there is more at the Federal level we could be 
doing or what could we be doing to make sure that we are not 
letting kids fall through the cracks?
    Dr. Verret. It was--the campus experience is crucial. It is 
a great value to our students, so it was important to bring 
them back. Making sure that everyone was masking was an 
important way of keeping transmission from occurring. But they 
benefited from working with each other and also working with 
our faculty. It is important to do that. But keeping the campus 
safe so that the campus quality was safer than where they were 
come from was important. So we have to make sure that we are 
not creating a problem.
    Once we are in compliance with masking and now with 
vaccination, we were actually able to carry on in campus. And 
as I mentioned, the prevalence of the virus on campus never 
exceed 1.6 percent. So we kept--we kept by not being able to 
transmit the virus on campus.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Yes, President Pumariega.
    Ms. Pumariega. Thank you, Senator. What we have done is, 
one, follow the guidelines in terms of the physical distancing, 
the mask, and also have, temperature checks and other 
preventive measures so that we can, maybe if someone is coming 
on and has a temperature, doesn't come into our learning 
support labs. But what we did do, once we implemented those 
preventive measures, we have and have remained open all of our 
learning support, our student life centers. We launched an 
early college summer program where our high school students 
just graduated this past week.
    On Monday, we will be offering where they can begin college 
early on campus, take six credits toward their associates of 
arts program. And so, again, alongside with the preventive 
measures, the CDC guidelines, the mask requirement, we have to 
continue to bring our students on campus and provide those in-
person support services that we know are critical to the 
majority of our students at Miami Dade College, which are first 
in their families to attend college.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Well, thank you so much. I 
appreciate all your work. And Mr. Harris, good luck to you. I 
didn't have a question for you. Ms. Copeland-Morgan, thank you 
so much for your service as well. I yield back.
    The Chair. Thank you very much.
    Senator Burr, your final comment.
    Senator Burr. Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me once again say 
thank you to all the witnesses who have come before us today. I 
would be remiss if I didn't say that I think as we plow through 
the summer, every institution is going to be faced with this 
decision of how do we go into the fall and what are going to be 
the requirements? Should we do what Xavier has done, require 
vaccinations of students, faculty, staff? Let me just note at 
this time that all three buckets that we talked about, they are 
already vaccinated.
    If they entered an education system in the United States in 
kindergarten, they were required to be vaccinated. The current 
vaccination requirements in L.A. County, a child can't enter 
the system without diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, 
measles, mumps, rubella. A student can't enter Miami-Dade 
without diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, 
rubella, hepatitis B, and chickenpox. For some reason, the 
older we get, we think that is not important.
    If we all had to go back to the beginning of COVID in its 
first 90 days, if a vaccine had been available, we all would 
have taken it. And as time goes on, our memories become, to use 
Dr. Cassidy's elastic. We sort of forget some of the things. 
So, I say this for the record, I already said it to the folks, 
but I saved it for the record, because I want other presidents 
and chancellors and faculty to realize we are not asking 
something that is unreasonable. We ask you in education right 
at the beginning of the process for things that we have known 
for years.
    We don't want those things to come back or we don't want it 
to infect a population of students. It is not unreasonable for 
us to consider whether we require it in higher education, 
whether we find a modification from that, but for goodness 
sakes, don't look at this and say this isn't something we 
shouldn't consider. We have already done that as a Nation. And 
we do it today and the requirements are much greater than what 
we are applying with vaccination of COVID. Thank you.
    The Chair. Thank you, Senator Burr. That will end our 
hearing today. And I really want to thank all of our colleagues 
and our witnesses. All of you gave great testimony. It was a 
very thoughtful discussion. I really appreciate everybody's 
input.
    For any Senators who wish to ask additional questions, 
questions for the record will be due in 10 business days at 5 
p.m. The hearing record will remain open until then for Members 
who wish to submit additional material for the record.
    This Committee will meet next on Tuesday, June 22nd, at 10 
a.m. in Dirksen 430 for a hearing on how we can help people get 
the information they need to get vaccinated so we can end this 
pandemic. With that, the Committee stands adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:23 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]


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