For several years, federal pandemic relief funds helped school districts across the U.S. expand “high-impact” (or “high-dosage”) tutoring programs that improved student learning. Now that the main source of funding has expired, many education leaders are scrambling to keep those programs afloat.
Between March 2020 and March 2021, Congress allocated nearly $190.5 billion to public education through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund, the largest one-time federal investment in K-12 education in U.S. history. The funding ended in phases between 2022 and 2024, though some districts received extensions.
In response, some districts have paused or significantly scaled back tutoring, while others are working to save it by weaving it directly into their core academic systems and budgets. A 2026 analysis of 35 districts by the National Student Support Accelerator (NSSA) found that eight districts had significantly reduced their tutoring programs and another eight had experienced a pause or disruption after ESSER ended. However, 19 districts — more than half of those studied — preserved or expanded their tutoring programs.
Research shows that “high-impact” tutoring, also referred to as “high-dosage” tutoring, has been the most powerful intervention to make up for pandemic learning loss. It typically occurs at least three times a week, providing targeted instruction in coordination with regular classroom work. The NSSA notes that programs featuring frequent sessions over at least 10 weeks, delivered individually or in small groups, with data-driven instruction can generate three to 15 months of additional learning.
But according to research from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, high-impact tutoring costs an estimated $1,200 to $2,500 per student annually, making it difficult for many districts to pay for it without ESSER funds.
For schools that have heavily invested in these programs and are trying to retain their benefits, the challenge is making tutoring a standard fixture. Devon Wible, vice president of teaching and learning at Catapult Learning, which provides tutoring programs to schools, says that districts in several states are increasingly viewing tutoring as a foundational layer of academic support.
“A few years ago, when ESSER funds were here, the conversation was, ‘Let’s see if it works,’” Wible says. “Now it’s, ‘How do we sustain this?’”
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