Keeping the water system flowing
Automation may be replacing people in many industries, but water is not one of them. According to Hillary Caron, water education and programs coordinator for the city of Grand Rapids, there are hundreds of careers…
Government
Senate bill rejects key Trump budget cuts
Senate appropriators on Thursday passed a bipartisan education and labor spending bill for fiscal year 2026 that would keep the Pell Grant maximum award at $7,395 for the 2026-2027 school year and preserve the $65-million…
Washington Watch: DOJ issues guidance on ‘unlawful discrimination’
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday issued a memorandum to all federal agencies that further delineates specific practices that the Trump administration considers violations of civil rights law, including diversity, equity and inclusion…
DataPoints: Federal direct student loans
The federal government disbursed roughly $88 billion in new federal loans in the 2023-24 fiscal year (July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024). Based on data from the U.S. Education Department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System…
Workforce Pell is finally here. What will it take to get it to work?
The higher education community didn’t find much to celebrate in Congress’s passage of the “big beautiful bill,” with one notable exception: the expansion of Pell grants to shorter-form workforce training programs. Workforce Pell has finally…
ED’s rulemaking schedule may push Pell, other changes to 2027
The U.S. Education Department (ED) announced Thursday that it will hold negotiated-rulemaking sessions to implement the higher education portions of the recently passed budget reconciliation law, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. ED…
Opening doors for displaced federal workers
When the Trump administration began massive layoffs of federal workers earlier this year, community colleges jumped in to help displaced workers prepare for new careers. Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) announced NOVA next (New Employment,…
Presidents’ treks raise money, awareness
Tim Cook could be using his vacation time to rest up before the fall semester starts. Instead, he’s pounding the pavement to help students. Cook, president of Clackamas Community College, is on a 50-day, 1,500-mile…
House sets top-line number for FY 26 funding
While congressional Republicans will press down on spending for domestic programs, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee has indicated that his panel will not make dramatic cuts to align with the president’s budget request….
Facing pressure, Trump administration to release at least some withheld ed funding
Editor’s note: This article was updated at 4 p.m. on July 18. The Trump administration will release at least some of the $7 billion in federal education grants that were not awarded as scheduled on…