- 276,000 CC students could lose CalFresh benefits
- More complete student data among AACC’s recommendations
- White House withdraws ED nomination
- Higher ed seeks exemption from new H-1B fee
276,000 CC students could lose CalFresh benefits
A new analysis shows that many community college and other higher education students could lose access to CalFresh benefits on November 1 due to the federal government shutdown.
CalFresh is the name for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in California, which helps low-income individuals and families buy food. About 276,000 California Community College (CCC) students received CalFresh benefits in the 2022-23 academic year, representing about 14% of CCC students, according to the nonpartisan California Policy Lab.
“Students use these benefits to afford their groceries, so if they don’t receive the benefits next month, then they will face some painful decisions about where to pull from their already limited budgets,” said Jesse Rothstein, co-author of the analysis and director of California Policy Lab’s University of California, Berkeley site.
CalFresh participation rates among community colleges was highest for students ages 20 to 34 at nearly 20%, according to the report.
The lab noted CCC students’ participation in CalFresh has grown modestly but consistently since 2018-19, with a large bump during the Covid pandemic, when the state and federal government temporarily expanded SNAP eligibility and benefits to college students. In 2022-23, 51,000 additional community college students participated in the program, according to the analysis.
Participation increased the most among students who receive Pell grants and Cal grant, the report says. Nearly one-third (31%) of CCC students who received a Pell Grant, Cal Grant or both also received CalFresh benefits.
More complete student data among AACC’s recommendations
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) last week sent comments pertaining to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee’s request for information around college costs and values, touching on issues ranging from more complete student data on federal consumer tools, to streamlining disclosure requirements on institutions.
Part of the seven-page letter sent October 24 to Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) focused on data used and presented in the U.S. Education Department’s College Scorecard. AACC President and CEO DeRionne P. Pollard wrote that one of the shortcomings of the Scorecard is that it captures “only a fraction of community college students,” noting the federal government is prohibited from collecting student-level data across the board and gathers information only on students participating in federal student aid programs.
“By limiting reporting to Title IV recipients, more than half of all community college students are not reflected in the data,” Pollard said. “This deeply undermines the utility of federal consumer tools, especially for community college students, but for policymakers as well.”
AACC added that the committee also should consider new ways to capture noncredit education in consumer tools like the Scorecard. The association noted data from the U.S. Education Department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, which is used for the Scorecard, doesn’t collect information on noncredit programs, which are growing in popularity.
White House withdraws ED nomination
The White House last week withdrew Kevin O’Farrell’s nomination to serve as assistant secretary for career, technical and adult education at the U.S. Education Department. He was nominated for the position in February, approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in May and awaiting full Senate approval.
O’Farrell has served over the past four years in the Florida Education Department as senior chancellor and as chancellor of career, technical and adult education.
Previously, O’Farrell served at Florida’s Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC) for eight years as campus provost and associate dean of academic affairs and institutional accreditation. Prior to PHSC, he was assistant vice president for communication and marketing at Trinity College of Florida, a nonprofit private college.
Higher ed seeks exemption from new H-1B fee
The American Association of Community Colleges is among more than two dozen higher education organizations joining the American Council on Education in urging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to exempt colleges and universities from the new $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications.
In an October 23 letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the associations said the recent presidential proclamation establishing the fee would place an “extraordinary and unnecessary burden” on institutions that rely on H-1B visa holders to teach, conduct research and provide medical and technical expertise in areas of national need, such as healthcare, engineering and computer science. The groups observed that the proclamation allows DHS to issue exemptions in the national interest and called on the department to recognize higher education’s central role in training the U.S. workforce.
