LAW Alert: “Classroom to Career” Summit; USDA & ED Partnership; FAFSA Updates

November 13, 2024

Leading the news this week:

Congress is back in session and there is no shortage of work that needs to be done before the end of the 118^th Congress. First and foremost, Republicans and Democrats will be selecting their new leadership for the next Congress. We now know Senator Thune (SD) will be the next majority leader in the Senate, meanwhile, President-Elect Trump has endorsed Speaker Johnson to remain in his role. Legislatively, Congress must either pass a funding bill for fiscal year 2025 or extend the continuing resolution before the December 20^th deadline or risk a shutdown leading into the holidays and the end of the 118th Congress. Yet, with a possible government trifecta, Republicans on Congress will look to President-elect Trump to decide if they complete FY 25 work this year or delay it to next year.

In the meantime, we are keeping an eye out for the reauthorization of the Farm Bill and WIOA.

Now let's dive into the latest news in higher education!

White House Hosts “Classroom to Career” Summit

Today President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden celebrated the Investing in America agenda aimed at creating millions of good-paying jobs that do not require a four-year college degree. The Summit intended to highlight record progress to expand career pathways to good-paying jobs in infrastructure, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and more. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden announced that 34 states and Washington, DC now have a free community college program. In total, over 400 colleges, cities, and states now offer tuition-free college and job training. The White House also highlighted ACCT's initiative with support from Ascendium to help community colleges design processes to build capacity to create new Registered Apprenticeship programs in occupational sectors that have not traditionally used apprenticeship as a training pathway.

U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Education (ED) Sign a Joint Agreement to Strengthen College Student Access to SNAP

USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and ED's Federal Student Aid (FSA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the intention to strengthen access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for college students. A common barrier for low-income students, especially community college students, is the lack of resources to access basic necessities such as food, not only for themselves, but for their families. One of ACCT's priorities has been advocating for a less burdensome process so that eligible community college students can have the resources in place which would then increase the likelihood of community college completion.

The Department of Education is Taking Lessons from FAFSA Beta Testing

Beta 3 testing of the 2025-2026 FAFSA form began on November 1st. This round of testing consists of more than 25,000 students filers. Currently, for the entire Beta testing process, the total number of submitted forms amounts to over 10,000 with more than 45,000 Institutional Student Information Records generated for schools. Based on the results of the Beta tests, the Department has performed updates to the Aiden virtual assistant to reflect 2025-26 information and made investments in training and staffing levels at the Federal Student Aid Information Center, this includes increasing the number of agents and adding evening and Saturday hours during the first few months that the 2025-26 FAFSA form is fully available. Below are resources from the Department of Education to further assist students and institutions when navigating the 2025-2025 FAFSA cycle.

Guidance on the Access, Disclosure, and Use of FAFSA Data for the Application, Award, and Administration of Student Aid Programs

The Department of Education issued an announcement providing guidance on permitted and prohibited access, disclosure, and use of personally identifiable information from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid by institutions of higher education and relevant agencies and organization that receive this information beginning with the 2024-25 FAFSA cycle. Overall, federal tax information (FTI) is not included in the definitions of FAFSA and non-FAFSA data. A separate announcement will follow in the near future that provides guidance on permitted and prohibited access, disclosure, and use of FTI. FTI is governed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and has more stringent access, disclosure, and use requirements than other FAFSA data. For additional details please refer to the full announcement.

Grant Opportunities

Please review the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education's Community College webpage for new grants community colleges are eligible for.

2025 Young Trilateral Leaders Network (YTL) eSports Competition: The Department of State aims to bring rising leaders together to form trilateral esports teams who will compete together in an esports competition to take place in the Republic of Korea in the first half of 2025. A key facet of the program will include training on issues designed to build a cohort of trilateral champions who know how to work with one another across borders, promoting skills such as cross-cultural communication, teamwork, technological literacy, strategic thinking, conflict mediation and resolution, identifying and combatting discrimination in digital spaces, and how gaming can be used to make a positive social impact. Community colleges are eligible to apply. Click here for additional information. The closing date for the application is December 2, 2024

Southwest Border Resource Protection Program: The Department of Interior aims to improve resource stewardship, achieve international cooperation, provide meaningful interpretation and conduct scientific research, which will lead to increased appreciation and understanding of our shared natural and cultural heritage along our international border with Mexico. Program funding is available for conducting scientific research and monitoring of species, as well as conservation, interpretation and preservation projects designed to help protect and preserve natural and cultural resources located near or along our international border. Applicants must work with and benefit an NPS unit in the Intermountain Region along the U.S. – Mexico border as well as a protected area in Mexico by addressing cultural or natural resource issues shared by both countries. Here is additional information. The closing date for this application is December 15, 2024 11:59PM EST.

National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program Advanced Packaging Research and Development: The Department of Commerce has issued a notice of funding opportunity seeks proposals for research and development activities that will establish and accelerate domestic semiconductor advanced packaging through investments in five areas: (1) Equipment, Tools, Processes, and Process Integration; (2) Power Delivery and Thermal Management; (3) Connector Technology, including Photonics and Radio Frequency (RF); (4) Chiplets Ecosystem; and (5) Co-design/Electronic Design Automation (EDA). Here is additional information. The closing date for this application is December 20, 2024.

November 19 - Foundational Learning Program (Tanzania)
November 19 10:00 AM CT - Supporting Minds, Supporting Learners Webinar
November 30 - Celebrating the Contribution of African Food to American Cuisine Application Deadline
December 2 - 2025 Young Trilateral Leaders Network (YTL) eSports Competition
December 5 3:00-4:15PM EST - Helping Community College Students Build a More Secure Financial Future Webinar
December 12, 11:59 PM EST - Save America's Treasures Preservation Grant
December 13, 5:00 PM EST - Offshore Wind Workforce Readiness Programs Application Deadline
December 15 11:59PM EST - Southwest Border Resource Protection Program
December 16 - Ports for the Future Partnerships
December 19 - Ethiopia Rapid Response Mechanism Grant closing date
December 20 - National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program Advanced Packaging Research and Development
January 6, 2025 11:59PM EST - Head Start/ Early Head Start Recipient, Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Grants
January 15, 2025 - Accurate Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment Completers List due to ED
January 16, 2025 - Ports for the Future Partnerships Grant Closing Date
January 21, 2025 - Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program—Short-Term Projects
January 22, 2025 - Addressing Systems Challenges through Engineering Teams Grant Closing Date
February 9-12, 2025 - National Legislative Summit

Outreach Efforts

Is your institution meeting or hosting an event with federal elected officials?

We created a Congressional Contact Form that will help us track outreach efforts of community college leaders across our membership. By filling out the form, you are better informing ACCT's advocacy efforts and our advocacy team is able to continue those conversations with congressional staff in DC.

ACCT NOW is the go-to resource for issues affecting community colleges. Our new website features original reporting and research, as well as of-the-moment legislative updates. ACCT NOW also includes articles, reports, and research from outside sources that benefit the ACCT community. Read the Latest Articles on ACCT NOW:

New Report Focuses on Mental Health Challenges Facing Community College Students

Have a Question?

Contact us with any questions or concerns about public policy and ACCT's advocacy on behalf of two-year colleges and two-year college trustees. ACCT's Latest Action in Washington alerts are sent to interested ACCT members to keep you up to date on important legislative activities that impact community colleges.

If you no longer wish to receive ACCT's Latest Action in Washington alerts, reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. For more information about ACCT's advocacy services, visit acct.org/advocacy

Spread the Word.

Please encourage your fellow trustees, presidents and colleagues to stay up to date about legislation that affects their community colleges by joining the Latest Action in Washington (LAW) Alert network. To join, simply register here.

For more community college news from inside the beltway, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, or like us Facebook.