September 11, 2025

Leading the News this Week

Yesterday, the Department of Education announced that it will end discretionary funding for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), with the justification that these grants are racially and ethnically discriminatory. Continue to the next section for additional information.

News in Higher Education

Termination of Funding for Minority Serving Institutions

With the announcement from the Department of Education, funding for new 2025 awards and non-competing continuations will end for:

• Strengthening Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions
• Strengthening Predominantly Black Institutions
• Strengthening Asian American- and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions
• Strengthening Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions
• Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions

The Department said that it will “reprogram” these funds to “support other priorities” that the administration deems as not discriminatory, while mandatory funds that cannot be reprogrammed will be dispersed as stated by statute.

On a related note, given that we are in the middle of HSI week, it is important to recognize the 236 community colleges that are Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and the role they play in supporting the success of every student enrolled in their programs, regardless of ethnicity or background. Please take a look at the toolkit ​​​​​​developed by our partner, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), to celebrate HSI week.

Relevantly, HACU requested to intervene as a defender in the case after the Department of Justice (DOJ) had opted out of defending the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) program in the lawsuit filed by the Students for Fair Admissions and the state of Tennessee. HACU is also circulating a letter for HSIs to co-sign, which asks Congress to support HSIs in light of these recent developments. The deadline to sign on is September 12.    

House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Bill Passed by the Full Committee

The House Appropriations Committee marked up the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill, which aims to eliminate programs that support student success, access, and affordability, namely, the elimination of CCAMPIS, ABE, SEOG, and FIPSE (see below). We urge community college leaders and supporters to contact their House lawmakers, asking them to restore funding for these programs. Below is a brief summary of the House's appropriations proposal. In the meantime, ACCT does wish to thank both House and Senate appropriators for proposing to level-fund the Strengthening Community College Training Grant (SCCTG) while also recognizing that more work needs to be done to support this critical program. Please read ACCT's piece on the importance of SCCTG (also mentioned in the ACCT Now section). For a deep dive on the House's LHHS appropriations bill, take a look at the latest ACCT Now piece (also mentioned in the ACCT Now section).

Eliminates funding for:

• Adult Basic Education (ABE)
• Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS)
• Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) 
• Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE): Basic Needs and Post-Secondary Student Success Grants (PSSG) 

Reduces funding for:

• Federal Work Study (FWS) by 37 percent
• Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) by $5 million

Level funds:

• Maximum Pell award at $7,395,
• Strengthening Community College Training Grant (SCCTG) 
• TRIO and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR-UP)
• Head Start

Increases funding for:

• Career and Technical Education (CTE) state grants. 
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) 
• Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs)
• Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTIs)

While the appropriations process is underway, we ask you to join ACCT’s Action Campaign to urge your member of Congress to reject eliminations and cuts to these critical programs.

Student Parent Month

The month of September is Student Parent Month, where we recognize that more than 3 million undergraduate students are parenting students. At ACCT, we advocate for programs such as Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) that aim to provide much-needed supports for parenting students along their higher education journeys. Currently, however, ACCT is concerned with the House Appropriations proposal to eliminate funding for CCAMPIS, and we call upon you to participate in our Action Campaign and let your member of Congress know the disadvantages parenting students would face should this program no longer exist.  

Grant Opportunities

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

• September 12: Deadline for HSIs to sign on to HACU's letter 
• September 17: Public Comment Period for New Rules on PSLF Deadline
• October 3, 01:00 PM ET: LAW Live Webinar
• October 22 - 25: ACCT Leadership Congress
• November 7, 01:00 PM ET: LAW Live Webinar
• December 5, 01:00 PM ET: LAW Live Webinar

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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