The COVID-19 pandemic created disruptions in teaching andlearning across all content areas, including the transition ofSTEM lab courses to an online or hybrid format. Many of theeducational inequities that college and university students havefaced regularly were magnified by the change to online instruction.As part of a larger longitudinal National Science FoundationRapid Response Research (NSF RAPID) funded study, undergraduatestudents and instructors at two- and four-year HispanicServing Institutions (HSIs) in the southwestern United Stateswere asked what instructional activities were most helpful forlearning and what tools or methods proved to be problematic intheir STEM lab courses. Data were collected during three academicsemesters, providing a comprehensive account of evolvingexperiences throughout the pandemic while students shifted tovarious formats of instruction. Using grounded theory to examinestudent and instructor responses to open ended questions,the authors summarized course elements that were beneficialfrom both the student and instructor perspectives. Four centralideas emerged: holistic accessibility, course design, instructionalpractices, and instructor interactions. Based on the theoreticalmodel developed through qualitative analysis, recommendationsto decrease inequities and increase access to STEM lab experienceswere made.