Pandemic Relief Oversight Plan 2021 — U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General

Summary

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General Pandemic Relief Oversight Plan, updated October 28, 2021. It states that the Department was provided with more than $280 billion under three coronavirus response and relief laws, including $190 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, $76.2 billion for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund and $4.3 billion for the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund. It says the three measures gave the Office of Inspector General $17 million for oversight, and lists planned audit subject areas, criminal and civil investigations through a Special Investigations Unit, and the Office of Inspector General's role on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

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Contact Our Hotline
to Report Fraud
More Resources
Visit the following links for more
information about our completed
and ongoing work and tips for
identifying pandemic-related
fraud to report.
	• Completed and ongoing
work
	• Protecting Coronavirus Relief
Funds from Fraud and Abuse
(digital booklet and flyer)
	• Fraud awareness  posters for
K–12 and higher education/
student aid
	• Fraud Reporting
Requirements for Federal
Program Participants and
Auditors
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
Pandemic Relief
Oversight Plan
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) was provided with more than
$280 billion under three major coronavirus response and relief laws to assist States,
schools, school districts, and institutions of higher education in meeting their
needs and the needs of students impacted by the pandemic. The Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, enacted in March 2020; the
Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021, enacted
in December 2020; and the American Rescue Plan, enacted in March 2021,
established and funded programs including the following.
	• Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund—
$190 billion awarded to State educational agencies to provide to local
educational agencies. ESSER funds can be used to support a wide range of
activities, including purchasing and using technology for online learning,
coordinating efforts with public health departments, addressing the needs
of underrepresented student subgroups, planning for both school closures
and reopenings, purchasing cleaning supplies, providing mental health
services, and implementing summer learning and supplemental after-school
programs.
	• Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund—$76.2 billion awarded
to institutions of higher education. HEER funds can be used to assist students
with expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the
pandemic, such as tuition, food, housing, healthcare, childcare, technology,
and course materials. They can also be used to help institutions of higher
education, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority
Serving Institutions, cover costs associated with significant changes to the
delivery of instruction due to the pandemic, reimburse themselves for lost
revenue resulting from the pandemic, and defray other expenses, such as
those for faculty and staff trainings, payroll, campus safety measures and
protocols, and student support activities.
	• Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund—$4.3 billion
awarded to Governors’ offices to provide to local educational agencies,
institutions of higher education, or other education-related entities that
each Governor determines to be most impacted by the pandemic or deems
essential. GEER funds can be used to support these entities’ ongoing
operations and efforts to provide educational services to students.
	• Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools—$5.5 billion awarded to
Governors’ offices ($2.75 million from the GEER Fund). These funds can be
used to provide services or assistance to nonpublic schools that enroll a
significant percentage of low-income students and are most impacted by the
coronavirus pandemic.
Funds were also provided for U.S. Territories, Tribal education agencies and
programs operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Education, and homeless
children and youth. Further, under the American Rescue Plan, billions of dollars in
supplemental funds were provided for States to support children with disabilities.

The three measures also provided the Office of Inspector General (OIG) with $17 million to carry out oversight activities
related to these funds. The OIG’s mission is to promote the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s
programs and operations through independent and objective audits, investigations, inspections, and other activities.
To accomplish its mission, the OIG is conducting various pandemic relief oversight activities based on its FY 2022
Annual Plan, with a focus on auditing Department and grantee management and spending of these funds; examining
the effectiveness of the pandemic relief programs; and investigating misuse, theft, and other criminal activity involving
these funds. Specific work assignments that we plan to perform related to pandemic relief oversight are included in
our FY 2022 Annual Plan.
The following is an overview of subject areas that are or may be included in the OIG’s body of work.
Audits and Other Reviews
Through the OIG’s Audit Services component, OIG auditors anticipate performing a series of audits, inspections, and
quick response reviews of programs, grants, requirements, and flexibilities established and funded under the three
measures described above. OIG staff are actively coordinating with the Government Accountability Office to avoid
duplication of effort and ensure the broadest possible level of oversight. Final audit areas for our work may change
based on additional work the Government Accountability Office performs.
State and Local Programs
Department Focus
	• Department’s oversight of ESSER funds
External Focus (i.e., States, State educational agencies, local educational agencies, schools)
	• Use of ESSER funds, with a focus on activities to address learning loss
	• Use of ESSER funds for technology purposes
	• Allocation and use of American Rescue Plan Homeless Children and Youth funds
	• Processes for awarding and monitoring GEER funds
	• Plans for allocating GEER funds to eligible entities
	• Processes for administering Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools funds

Student Financial Assistance and Higher Education Programs
Department Focus
	• Department’s processes for implementing flexibilities to Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher
Education grant service obligations
	• Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) transition of Federal student loan borrowers back into repayment after the relief
measures implemented in response to the pandemic expire
	• FSA’s processes for the return of Title IV funds, cancellation of borrower loans, and exclusion of subsidized loan
usage and Federal Pell Grant lifetime usage
	• Department’s oversight of HEER funds
External Focus (schools)
	• Use of the Student Aid and Institutional portions of HEER funds
	• Compliance with the return of Title IV waiver requirements
Departmental Operations
	• Department’s use or planned use of its supplemental pandemic-related program administration funding
Criminal and Civil Investigations
Through the OIG’s Investigation Services component, OIG criminal investigators are working to identify and stop those
who seek to steal coronavirus response and relief aid funding. In 2020, the OIG established its Special Investigations
Unit with a dedicated focus on investigative work surrounding coronavirus response and relief aid, as well as our
ongoing disaster recovery investigative work. Special Investigations Unit investigators conduct criminal and civil
investigations involving coronavirus programs and funding. They also work closely with all OIG components to identify
and address systemic vulnerabilities that affect the Department’s compliance with requirements of the coronavirus-
related and other statutes. The OIG is also conducting fraud outreach campaigns aimed at informing and educating
stakeholders and the public about how to identify and report coronavirus-related fraud. The OIG has created a series of
infographics, posters, and other materials, all free and available for downloading via its website. Further, OIG criminal
investigators are working with their law enforcement colleagues across the country, including the Department of
Justice Procurement Fraud Task Force and Federal-State task forces led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices. These task forces are
working to quickly address fraud complaints and to identify, investigate, and prosecute fraud related to the pandemic.

Updated October 28, 2021
They are looking into unlawful hoarding, price gouging, and a series of scams already preying on our nation's
citizens—vaccine scams, supply scams, charity scams, phishing, malware apps, and investment scams.
The OIG’s Information Technology, Audits, and Computer Crime Investigations (ITACCI) component provides data
analytic and computer forensic support to OIG audit and investigative work. ITACCI’s Technology Crimes Division is also
proactively working with their OIG Investigation Services counterparts, and Federal, State, and local law enforcement
partners to pursue entities who are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic. This includes entities that prey on
unsuspecting students and student loan borrowers by targeting them with fraudulent coronavirus-related student
debt relief or loan consolidation schemes. ITACCI is also working to ensure that these bad actors are not gaining
unauthorized access to Department and FSA information technology resources or accounts.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
The CARES Act established the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), composed of inspectors general
from across the Federal government. The PRAC is tasked with conducting, coordinating, and supporting inspectors
general in the oversight of the trillions of dollars in emergency Federal spending to address the economic impacts of
the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act named nine specific agency inspectors general to the Committee, including
the U.S. Department of Education. Sandra D. Bruce, Deputy Inspector General Delegated the Duties of Inspector
General, represents the OIG on the PRAC. Deputy Inspector General Bruce chairs the PRAC’s Federal, State, and Local
Coordination Subcommittee and is a member of the PRAC Financial Sector Oversight Workgroup. In addition, Aaron
Jordan, OIG Assistant Inspector General for Investigation Services, serves as an advisory board member to the PRAC’s
Fraud Task Force, and Shafee Carnegie, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigation Services, serves on the
PRAC’s Investigations Training Subcommittee.
Through the PRAC’s Federal, State, and Local Coordination Subcommittee, Federal, State, local, Tribal, and Territorial
oversight entities come together to discuss challenges, opportunities, and best practices. They pursue new ways to
work together in overseeing pandemic relief aid in real time, resulting in expanded and improved oversight of the
trillions of dollars in pandemic relief aid. The OIG is also participating in a number of PRAC projects aimed at identifying
and mitigating risks that cut across program and agency boundaries and ensure sound stewardship of pandemic funds
and programs. You can find additional information on the PRAC, including oversight-related reports issued by Federal
Inspectors General, as well as State, local, Tribal, and Territorial entities on its website.

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