A bipartisan group of senators on the Senate Finance Committee this week reintroduced the Tax-Free Pell Grant Act, a top priority for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Charles…
The U.S. Education Department (ED) last week issued a “Dear Colleague” letter (DCL) to facilitate the ability of higher education institutions to switch accreditors for the purposes of Title IV approval. It comes on the…
The Trump administration’s “skinny budget” released Friday reflects its previously stated general priorities, including dramatically reduced domestic spending and the targeting of programs defined as “woke.” As outlined below, higher education is not exempt. The…
The House Education and Workforce Committee on Tuesday passed major changes to federal student aid programs that, if unaltered, will dramatically reduce Pell Grant support for community college students. Institutions would also have to return funds…
The House Education and Workforce Committee is slated on Tuesday to mark up legislation to comply with the fiscal year 2025 budget resolution’s reconciliation instructions, which direct the committee to save $330 billion over 10…
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order (EO) entitled “Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future” that orders the secretaries of Commerce, Education and Labor to take specified actions to…
President Trump on Wednesday signed a long-anticipated executive order (EO) on accreditation. The document begins by stating that “the accreditors’ job is to determine which institutions provide a quality education. Unfortunately, accreditors have not only…
The House and Senate appropriations committees have announced the processes for lawmakers to submit their fiscal year (FY) 2026 funding priorities to the committees. So now is the time for community colleges to urge their…
In a somewhat unanticipated development, the House Appropriations Committee has announced procedures for Community Project Spending (CPS), better known as earmarks, for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. Committee chair Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) has informed…
House lawmakers introduced the bipartisan Tax-Free Pell Grant Act last week, with the Senate expected to introduce a bipartisan companion bill soon. The House measure was introduced on April 4 by Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Mike…