May 10, 2023

Leading the news this week: Yesterday, President Biden hosted the “Big Four” leaders to the White House to discuss the debt-limit, but little progress was made. The group is set to meet yet again this Friday in hopes of reaching a starting point for negations.

With exactly three weeks until the eve of the "X" date, this may play out as a mad dash to the the finish line. 

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

Dept of Education Appropriations Hearing 

On Thursday, May 11, 2023 at 10:00 am ET the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Funding Request and Budget Justification for the Department of Education." Secretary Cardona will testify and justify the President’s budget request. You can watch the livestream of the hearing and access its recording here.

Reminder: Call for Presentations

ACCT 2023 Leadership Congress is accepting presentation proposals for this year's conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Proposals are due Monday, May 15, all guidelines and submission requirements can be found here. If you have any question please email congress@acct.org.  

PSLF Update

Last October, the limited Public Service Loan Forgiveness  (PSLF) Waiver, which was put into place during the public heath emergency, expired after a year of easing restrictions for thousands of nonprofit and government workers to qualify for PSLF. This week, the Department of Education shared that the PSLF program has approved over $42 billion in forgiveness to over 615,000 borrowers since October 2021.

As a reminder, although the limited waiver has expired, the Department published a PSFL final rule in November 2022 to improve the application process, clarify and expand definitions for full-time employment, qualifying employers, and qualifying monthly payments. These changes aim to bring greater transparency and clarity to the administration of Federal student financial aid program and benefit thousands of borrowers. The new rule will go into effect on July 1, 2023.

To read the full press release, click here. To review the Department's fact sheet on the rule, click here. 

Coalition Letter

Last month, ACCT joined a coalition letter to Congressional Appropriators urging them to prioritize robust investments in workforce and education programs in the FY24 appropriations process. The letter outlined that investments in workforce and training would mitigate long-term talent shortages and contribute to a resilient US economy.

To read the full letter, click here. 

• May 1 - pre-applications open on a rolling basis for CHIPS Incentives Program – Commercial Fabrication Facilities

• May 16 - deadline to apply for Open Textbooks Pilot Program 

• May 15 - deadline to submit public comment for Title IX NPRM

• May 22 - deadline to apply for Strengthening Institutions Program

• May 25 - deadline for DOE Industrial Assessment Centers concept papers

• May 30 - deadline to apply for MSEI

• May 30 - deadline to apply for AANAPISI Institutions Program

• June 20 - deadline to apply for Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development Grant Program

• June 20 - deadline to apply for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNH) Program

• June 23 - deadline to apply for Modeling and Simulation Program 

• July 7 - deadline to apply for Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant

• July 31 - deadline to apply for DOE Industrial Assessment Centers program

• October 2023 - deadline to apple for Advanced Technological Education

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. 

We also put together an outreach toolkit and an advocacy guide to share best practices for meeting with elected officials and set your team up for success.

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:

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) E-Alert network. To join, simply e-mail publicpolicy@acct.org with 'LAW Alert' in the subject of the e-mail.

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