Life after HEERF
Like many institutions, Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Massachusetts, used the emergency funding it received during the pandemic in a variety of ways. A large portion of this money went directly to students in the…
Funding
Senate Dems to USDA: Reinstate HSI fellowship program
Senate Democrats on Thursday asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately reinstate a fellowship program for educators at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), including community colleges designated as HSIs. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California), chair of…
Advocacy quick hits: Federal funding extension to expire next Friday
Lawmakers in the House and Senate face a looming March 14 deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown. Congress in December passed a short-term funding bill – called a continuing resolution (CR) – to fund…
WIOA reauthorization back on track
During a House Education and Workforce panel hearing on Wednesday, members from both parties showed that they are eager to keep the momentum going to reauthorize the nation’s main workforce development legislation, which missed congressional…
Coverage of AACC 2025
Articles from the 2025 annual American Association of Community Colleges convention April 12-16 in Nashville, Tennessee. AACC Awards of Excellence winnersNASHVILLE, Tenn. — About four years ago, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, Long…
Butchery program supplies meat prep workforce
It’s an adventurous year for Madison College student Robert Moreland who is visiting local farms to learn how pigs are processed for meat. The North Carolina native moved to Wisconsin, attracted by the free tuition…
Washington Watch: Big stakes for community colleges in budget debates
The shaping and adoption of a fiscal year 2026 budget resolution by congressional Republicans has huge implications for community colleges and their students. Baked into the discussions of broad fiscal policy are assumptions about the…
A review of CTE policy actions among states
An annual review of states’ policy actions regarding career and technical education (CTE) shows that funding was the top topic over the past year, followed by industry partnerships/work-based learning, and then access and supports. The…
What the Feb. 14 ‘Dear Colleague’ letter means for community colleges
The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights issued a Dear Colleague letter on February 14 outlining its interpretation of the legal obligations of educational institutions since the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for…
Focused on registered apprenticeships
President Donald Trump’s pick for labor secretary said at her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday that she would focus on beefing up registered apprenticeships, noting that she hasn’t yet talked to the president about non-registered…