January 26, 2023

Leading the news this week: The House of Representatives and Senate are back in session this week, and we've finally seen some solid movement on the committee front. House Republicans have announced their assignments to the House Education and Workforce Committee, which can be found here. No official announcement from House Democrats just yet. Now let's dive into the latest news in higher education.

FY 22 FIPSE Funding Announced

Last Friday, the Department of Education announced 38 awards totaling more than $30 million to colleges and universities from five grant programs under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). These grants aim to improve higher education opportunities and outcomes for students from underrepresented communities. We are happy to report that 16 out of the 38 awardees are ACCT members, receiving over $12.7 million. 

The FIPSE grants are outlined below:

 Postsecondary Student Success Program will help institutions invest in data-driven and evidence-based reforms to encourage postsecondary retention, transfer, and completion among students who are close to graduation, as well as those who temporarily withdrew from school because of challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. 3 out of 5 recipients were two-year institutions, collectively receiving over $2.7 million.

Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Program provides grants to eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs) to address students' basic needs, including food, housing, transportation, and child care. 7 out of 14 recipients were two-year institutions, collectively receiving over $5.5 million.

 Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success helps institutions support veteran student success by coordinating services to address their academic, financial, physical, and social needs. 5 out of 15 recipients were two-year institutions, collectively receiving  over $2.9 million. 

Transitioning Gang-Involved Youth to Higher Education Program  aimed at re-directing gang-involved youth toward postsecondary education opportunities that will lead to certification or credentials. Both recipients of this grant were two-year institutions, collectively receiving $1.5 million. 

We will announce once these grant programs start accepting application for the FY 2023 funding cycle. For a full list of the awardees, click here.

Feature Spotlight:

The Seldin Haring-Smith Foundation's (SHSF) Public Transit Maps project assessed public transit accessibility at community colleges across the country. Through their research they found that 57% of community college main campuses are transit accessible, but an additional 25% could be made accessible through extending existing bus lines. SHSF is producing interactive maps of each state, and we will be featuring these maps as they are made available.

The tenth interactive map is Kansas. SHSF found that 32% of Kansas' 82 community and technical colleges have a transit stop within walking distance. 10% of campuses are less than five miles from an existing transit line, which shows a window of opportunity to increase accessibility by connecting just one more college to an existing transit lines To delve deeper into Kansas' accessibility click here. To view the interactive map click here.

• January 27 - deadline to apply for the Expanding Community Colleges as SNAP E&T Providers RFA

• February 10 - deadline to submit comments for Proposed Regulations for Improving Income Driven Repayment Plans and RFI Regarding Public Transparency for Low-Financial-Value Postsecondary Programs

• February 7 - deadline to apply for the YouthBuild grant program

• February 15 - deadline for preliminary proposals for the NSF Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity program
• February 23 - deadline to apply Lead of a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Network
• 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.

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