The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) held its two-day Advocates in Action meeting in Washington, D.C., this week. The meeting took place as Congress buckled down for its last days of being in session before adjourning for the November elections.
The participants – 110, hailing from 28 states – heard from an array of speakers, covering the gamut of the D.C. higher education policy community — legislators, congressional staff, Executive Branch officials, journalists, pollsters, lobbyists, think tank representatives and more. While some of the conversation focused on the upcoming election, even more was devoted to the many changes that have been made to higher education laws in the current congressional session, as well as pending community college legislative priorities. Top on this agenda was addressing the looming Pell Grant shortfall and ensuring that Congress provides adequate funds are provided to make the program whole. Implementation of Workforce Pell, and ideas for refining the program, also were prominent themes.
The Advocates in Action event was kicked off by an account of the most relevant features of the higher education and public policy environment, provided by Kevin Carey, director of education at New America.
Federal legislators invited to speak at the event reflected strong ongoing support for community colleges and their mission. Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia (D-VA), introduced by Tidewater Community College President Marcia Conston, discussed his concerns with the movement of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) functions to other agencies. Scott also described some of the behind-the-scenes negotiating that led to the re-establishment of Pell Grant eligibility for inmates in 2020.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) – a graduate of Butler Community College – signaled his openness to hearing from community colleges as they strive to make Workforce Pell realize its promise. And Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) described his strong support for California’s community colleges.
Key staff from the Senate and House education committees also offered their views, both thanking community colleges for their contributions and stating their interest in receiving input from the community college field. Amy Jones, education policy director for the House Education and the Workforce Committee, emphasized the extraordinary number of hearings and markups that the committee has undertaken this Congress.
Community colleges’ own Casey Sacks, acting assistant secretary for career, technical, and adult education, and former community college president, outlined some of the ways in which the Education Department is trying to facilitate community college engagement with ED funding. She discussed the issue of “ghost students” and ED’s efforts to combat fraud.
Attendees also heard from Carl Hulse, chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times, who gave a preview of some of the election dynamics that he had seen from his on-the-ground reporting across the races. Josh Yazman, of Catalist, provided a Democratic pollster’s view of the upcoming elections. Yazman highlighted some of the potential changes in voter in voter support from the 2024 returns. A number of policy experts and lobbyists also provided their perspectives on current “inside the Beltway” developments.
AACC will sponsor another Advocates in Action meeting next September.
