A Senate hearing Wednesday on higher education touched on a lot of topics, but it was the work of community colleges — especially in stretching their modest budgets and providing pathways to good-paying jobs — that caught the ear of several lawmakers.
The Senate Labor, Education, Health and Pensions Committee discussed with witnesses a range of issues, from college costs and alternatives to four-year degrees, to Republican proposals for risk-sharing and eligibility changes to the Pell Grant program. Russell Lowery-Hart, chancellor of the Austin Community College District (ACC) in Texas and a member of the American Association of Community Colleges board of directors, warned that the changes to the Pell program being considered in the House — specifically, increasing required credit hours — would hit students hard, especially those attending part-time.
Raising the part-time Pell requirement from six hours to 7.5 hours would dramatically affect community college students, many of whom attend part-time because they are also balancing work and family life. At ACC, more than 75% of students are part-time, with nearly 5,000 students tapping Pell grants by taking six- to seven-hour credits, he said. With the proposed changes, those students may not afford to stay in their programs, which are typically workforce-related.
Regarding Pell grants, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) expressed his frustration with passing legislation to allow Pell grants to cover quality, short-term workforce development programs. He has championed extending access for years, but it hasn’t passed. He attributed that to a “snobbishness” in Congress toward career and technical education compared to four-year degrees and a lack of drive to mark up legislation, despite garnering growing bipartisan support in both chambers.
“I don’t think we should have policies like in Pell Grant that advantage one and ignore the other,” he said.
Keeping prices affordable
Much of the hearing focused on college costs and ways to lower them for students. While higher education expenses (tuition, fees, and room and board) have increased over the years, community colleges remain affordable with no “skyrocketing rising prices,” Lowery-Hart said, noting ACC has not increased tuition in 12 years.
“I think there could be a lot to learn from how community colleges effectively manage their budgets,” he said.
That drew kudos from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), a frequent critic of higher education.
“More kids need to go to community colleges,” he said.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), a physician, also praised community colleges’ affordability. He noted that he was a top student in high school and set his sights on top state universities. But he couldn’t afford them, and opted to attend Butler Community College, which provided many of the same types of courses. He said students should have access to financial literacy to allow them to better compare their higher education options.
Lowery-Hart noted that not only do students who transfer from two- to four-year colleges save money by taking their foundational courses at a community college, they also perform as well or better at the four-year colleges than students who start there. He explained that’s partly due to class size and the quality of the instructors.
“The difference at a community college is that they are being taught by master’s- or Ph.D.-prepared, experienced teachers, not a graduate assistant,” he said.
Reining in transfer credit loss
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) questioned Lowery-Hart about the loss of credits when students transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions. She cited a Southern New Hampshire University study that found students who transfer to a public four-year institution, on average, lose almost half of their credits. The loss of credits, transcript-request fees and other expenses translates to about $13,000 for transfer students, she said.
Lowery-Hart noted that better alignment in higher education is needed. ACC has partnered with Texas State University and St. Edward’s University, where faculty work together to ensure no credit is lost in transfer. The institutions also share data and advise students, and students often have access to scholarships to continue at the four-year institution.
“Those are things that aren’t just best practice, they should be required,” he said.
A tuition-free approach
Lawmakers also asked Lowery-Hart about ACC’s tuition-free program. He said it was “transformative” for the families the college serves. With nearly 5,000 students in the program last fall, enrollment at the college jumped nearly 40%, returning to pre-Covid levels. The students are also remaining in college; 81% of those students continued into spring 2025.
In addition, many of those students are enrolling in workforce-related programs that will lead to jobs with family-sustaining wages, often in high-demand fields, Lowery-Hart said.
“The ROI on this is undeniable,” he said.
Calling out TRIO cuts
Democrats on the panel took aim at various higher education programs that the Trump administration has targeted for cuts in its budget outline for fiscal year 2026. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Pennsylvania) noted that the U.S. Education Department’s TRIO program — which focuses on students from low-income families whose parents did not earn a college degree — would lose more than $1 billion in federal funding. She noted that six million students have graduated college with TRIO’s help.
Lowery-Hart said that services provided to students in TRIO — which include financial literacy, mentoring, and academic and skills supports — result in high college enrollment and success rates. He added that 47% of TRIO students are more likely to finish a two-year degree and transfer to a baccalaureate institution than students who don’t receive the same support.
“The very things that we’ve spent our time on this panel talking about, TRIO has already done historically and done well,” he said.
