Washington Watch

Washington Watch: Costly FAFSA Verification Process

Washington Watch is produced by the AACC office of government relations and policy analysis. FAFSA completion analyses typically focus on the applicant. Who and how many complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)?…



Washington Watch: Stimulus jockeying continues

Legislators have largely left Washington, D.C., for the national political conventions and the traditional August recess, but the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and other advocacy groups remain ever-focused on a possible new stimulus…


Washington Watch: Progress Toward Equity

Washington Watch is written by AACC’s government relations office. It is only fair that all students succeed. We want all fourth graders and eighth graders in the United States to read and do math at…



Student Loan Relief Options on Table

Washington Watch is written by AACC’s government relations office. On Saturday, August 8, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum, that, among other things, extended a moratorium on student loan repayment through the end of the…


Does Mandatory FAFSA Improve College Access?

Washington Watch is written by AACC’s government relations office. Student financial aid makes it possible for those who lack the financial means to attend college. To access that aid requires an application process. The fact…


Washington Watch: Funding for campus child care

Finding safe and affordable child care is a major challenge for college students with young children. The Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program supports the participation of low-income parents in college through…


Washington Watch: Stimulus work continues; advocacy needed

High-level negotiations on the COVID-19 stimulus legislation are ongoing, largely between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats. Despite vastly different priorities, it appears likely that in the next two weeks or so Congress will pass another…


Overcoming Obstacles to Mobility

Washington Watch is written by AACC’s government relations office. Public colleges are lauded as the “workhorses of middle-class mobility” in a recent Brookings Institution report. Most of the adulation is aimed at four-year institutions. The…