March 26, 2026

Leading the News this Week

ACCT is continuously advocating for community college students. This week, alongside the higher education community, ACCT signed on to letters asking for increased funding for Basic Needs Grant and the Postsecondary Student Success Grant,  while also informing the Trump Administration of the problems with asking grant recipients to certify that they are not engaging in DEI work. Read on to the next section for more on advocating for federal funding.

News in Higher Education

We Pushed for Support in the House. Let's Replicate Results in the Senate

With House appropriation group sign-on requests closing tomorrow, March 27, at 6 PM ET, now is the time to direct our attention to Senate funding. 

There's a quick and easy step you can take TODAY

**Click here to email your U.S. Senator**

Contact your college's Senators and urge them to sign the Group Letters to support Pell Grants, Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants (SCCTG), Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS), and Adult Basic Education (ABE).

For more background, view ACCT's FY27 Appropriations Resources

Related to funding, Senators can each submit up to 65 earmark requests in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) bill. This is a contrast from the House, which is allowing zero earmark requests in LHHS. Within LHHS, some accounts that may be particularly of interest to community colleges could include the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) program (ED) and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) within the Department of Labor.

April 21 is the Senate's LHHS earmark and programmatic request deadline. Click here for a table of deadlines for submitting FY27 requests across the rest of the appropriations subcommittees. Community colleges may also consider advocating for earmarks in other bills for a wide variety of activities.

Here are useful tools to further assist in the appropriations process. 

ACCT's FY 2027 Earmarks and Funding Request Tutorial and Slides (Member Restricted)

ACCT's FY 2025 Earmarks Webinar and Slides (Member Restricted)

Inter-Agency Agreement Roundup

With a total of ten interagency agreements between the Department of Education (ED) and other parts of the Federal government, here is a summary of the directions ED's functions have splintered into.   

Department of the Treasury

• Office of Federal Student Aid (for now, debt collection on defaulted loans)

Department of Labor

• Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
• Office of Postsecondary Education
• Office of Career Technical and Adult Education

Department of Health and Human Services

• Childcare Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS)
• Foreign Medical Accreditation
• Family engagement and student support

Department of State

• Programs of International Education and Foreign Language Studies
• Foreign gifts and contract reporting

Department of the Interior

• Indian Education programs.

Deadline Extended for B.A. Granting Colleges to Submit Race and Gender Data to ED

The Department of Education (ED) is requiring B.A.-granting colleges (including some community colleges) to submit enrollment data focusing on race, gender, GPA, and test scores spanning back six years. ED's stated goal is to determine whether colleges and universities are discriminating against applicants based on race. Seventeen state attorneys general filed a lawsuit, asserting that this rushed mandate is burdensome on institutions and that submitted data will be riddled with inconsistencies. While critics claim it would take longer, ED has estimated that filling out the survey would take approximately 200 hours. Initially, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Massachusetts extended the data submission deadline to March 25th, from March 18th. Now he has set a new deadline to April 6, at which point he will decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction. It is important to note that this recent extension only applies to institutions represented by the plaintiff states, creating multiple submission deadlines nationwide. 

Grant Opportunities

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

DOL Aims to Award "Pay for Performance" Grant Pilot

At the start of the Trump administration, the Department of Labor (DOL) committed to reaching 1 million active apprenticeships. As part of the administration's agenda, DOL's Employment and Training Administration announced the Pay-for-Performance Incentive Payments Program, which focuses on incentivizing the growth of the National Apprenticeship System in these select industries: Shipbuilding and Defense Industrial Base; Artificial Intelligence (AI), Semiconductor, and Nuclear Energy Infrastructure; Information Technology; Healthcare; Transportation; and Telecommunication. For more information, click here. The deadline for this grant is April 3, 2026, 11:59 PM ET.

TRIO Talent Search Program Grant

Institutions of higher education, such as community colleges, non-profits, and, featured in the FY26 funding cycle, state governments, leverage the Talent Search Program to assist K-12 students from a disadvantaged background pursue and succeed in postsecondary education and job training opportunities. The closing date for this grant competition is May 1, 20226 11:59 PM ET.

Strengthening Community College Training Grants

In this 6th round, the objective of  the Strengthening Community College Training Grant (SCCTG) competition is to fund community colleges aiming to build "program and system capacity for implementing and scaling access to short-term training opportunities through Workforce Pell Grants—i.e., promoting industry-driven strategies, worker mobility, and integration with the larger state workforce system (e.g., Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) partners) for statewide impact."  

The closing date for this grant opportunity is May 20, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET.

• March 26, 12 PM ET Strengthening Community College Training Grants (SCCTG): Deadline to sign on letter to support SCCTG
• March 26, 5 PM ET Pell Grants: Deadline for U.S. House Democrats to sign letter to double the Pell Grant maximum
• March 27, 6:00 PM - Deadline for U.S. House Members to Submit Final Requests to Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee
• March 30, 11:59 PM ET Public comment period closes for the proposed revision on certifications that recipients of federal funding must submit.
• April 1, 11:59 PM PT The Workforce Futures Accelerator: Embedding Real-World Employer Projects in Community Colleges Application Deadline
• April 3, 1-2 PM ET LAW Live
• April 3, 11:59 PM ET DOL "Pay for Performance" Registered Apprenticeship Grant Due
• April 8 Public Comment Period Closes for AHEAD (Workforce Pell)
• April 14 FAFSA Form 2027-28 comment period closes
• May 1, 1-2 PM ET LAW Live
• May 1, 11:59 PM ET TRIO Talent Search Program Grant Closes
• May 20, 11:59 PM ET. Strengthening Community College Training Grant Closes
• June 5, 1-2 PM ET LAW Live
• July 10, 1-2 PM ET LAW Live
• August 7, 1-2 PM ET LAW Live
• September 4, 1-2 PM ET LAW Live
• October 2, 1-2 PM ET LAW Live 
• October 21-24 ACCT Leadership Congress
• November 6, 1-2 PM ET LAW Live 
• December 4, 1-2 PM ET LAW Live

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:

Would you Like a Federal Update Session for Your Team?

Both this new presidential administration and new Congress have brought with them a flurry of developments in the federal landscape that can make keeping up a monumental task. ACCT's Government Relations team is here to help by offering a 45-minute to an-hour federal update session to community college leadership teams who are ACCT members. To request a session, fill out this form and please email publicpolicy@acct.org with any questions.

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. 

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