A democracy…voting and engagement
Those of us who work in community colleges are fortunate in many ways. We enjoy the opportunity to interact with a great diversity of students who have chosen to enroll at our institutions. We know…
Government
Washington Watch: Texas court halts ED’s ‘bare minimum’ program length rule
Just as community college officials were scrambling to fully comply with a new U.S. Education Department (ED) rule limiting the length of certain gainful employment (GE) programs for the purposes of student aid, a Texas…
ED awards $17M to community colleges to help rural students
Eight community colleges will receive a total of more than $17 million from the U.S. Education Department (ED) to boost enrollment, persistence and completion rates among rural students by using career pathways that lead to…
Washington Watch: New nursing grants prioritize community colleges
The American Association of Community Colleges has advocated in the current Congress to ensure that community college nursing programs begin to receive some of their fair share from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services…
Advocacy quick hits: Good news/bad news on FAFSA
The U.S. Education Department (ED) this week released a new electronic announcement (EA) on remaining issues with implementing the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, as well as new information on plans…
Washington Watch: Pell estimates better than expected
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Tuesday released its latest cost projections for the Pell Grant program, and the news was surprisingly better than anticipated. Most observers had predicted that the Pell program would exhaust…
Reporter’s notebook
FAFSA update Reforming remedial education FAFSA update The U.S. Department of Education provided information last week on the launch of the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, as well as opportunities to…
Senate hearing focuses on improving WIOA
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing Wednesday about the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). WIOA expired in 2020. Its reauthorization has bipartisan support and is “long overdue,” said…
Diving into how community colleges used HEERF money
Federal Covid funding to community colleges during the pandemic may have ended last summer, but a new study examines how two-year colleges used those funds and gauges areas of concern now that the money is…
DataPoints: Fewer recent high school grads enroll in community college
Of the 3.1 million students ages 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 2023, 1.9 million (61.4%) were enrolled in colleges or universities in October of that year, according to…