At the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the University of New Mexico’s Athletics budget was left bleeding. But the U.S. government offered a saving grace in late December: federal stimulus money allocated for colleges and universities through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds II (HEERF II). The Athletics department received over $10 million for the 2021 fiscal year as a result of a second pandemic stimulus package through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, according to documents from the UNM Controller Administration. Yet, in spite of the infusion of aid, the department still expects to fall short of meeting its budget goals by the end of the fiscal year.
