January 4, 2023

Leading the news this week: Congress returned to Washington yesterday, however the stalemate over the speakership has halted the start of the 118th Congress. We are now closing out the 5th unsuccessful round of voting  for speaker with no end in sight. It seems there's a long road ahead until we'll know committee assignments and chairs for the new congress, as contested committee races and committee appointments cannot take place until after a Speaker is selected. Now let's dive into the latest news in higher education.

Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Spending Bill Highlights

The 117th Congress may be over, but federal lawmakers managed to end the congress with a bang by squeezing in a massive $1.7 trillion end-of- year spending package. The omnibus legislation helped avoid a government shut-down and will fund the government until September 30, 2023. 

The legislation failed to include top community college legislative priorities such as short-term Pell or tax-free Pell. However, we are happy to report that it did include a $3.9 billion increase in funding for the Department of Education along with various funding priorities for community colleges, such as:

• The Pell Grant maximum award increased by $500  to $7,395.
• The Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program received a $10 million increase to $75 million.
• Strengthening Community College Training Grants received an increase of $15 million to $65 million. 
• Federal TRIO programs received a $54 million increase to $1.2 billion.
• The Registered Apprenticeships program received a $50 million increase to $285 million.
• Postsecondary Student Success Grants received a $40 million increase to $45 million.
• Adult Education State Grants received a $25 million increase to $729 million.
• CTE State Grants received a $50 million increase to $1.4 billion.
• $1.02 billion, an increase of $137 million, to assist Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) in the Aid for Institutional Development account.

A comprehensive factsheet and breakdown on enacted community funding project/ congressionally directed spending will be shared soon. 

New NSF TIP Funding Opportunity

The National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) recently announced the Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity, or NSF EPIIC, program and funding opportunity (NSF 23-528). Each EPIIC awardee can receive up to $400,000.

Through the EPIIC Program, NSF seeks to broaden participation in innovation ecosystems that advance emerging technology fields (e.g., advanced manufacturing, advanced wireless, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum information science, semiconductors, and microelectronics) by supporting capacity-building efforts to grow external partnerships at institutions of higher education (IHEs)The EPIIC program is particularly interested in supporting eligible Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), and two-year institutions through this funding effort.

NFS is hosting a one-hour Introduction to EPIIC Webinar on January 13, 2023, at 1PM EDT.  To register, click here. The deadline for preliminary proposals is February 15, 2023.

ACCT's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment & Training Project Request for Applications (RFA) *EXTENDED*

ACCT is excited to invite its members to be part of an exciting project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) to increase the number of community colleges that serve as SNAP E&T third-party providers. This opportunity aims to improve the ability of your students to move to economic independence, with the following three objectives:

1. Target Rural Institutions
2. Build the capacity of state systems/associations
3. Disseminate SNAP E&T knowledge and resources to a broad network

We will be recruiting two cohorts over the three-year project, each consisting of 5 rural institutions and 2 state systems/associations. Recruitment for our first cohort is officially and follows the timeline below:

• Virtual Information Session - Tuesday January 10th at 2:00pm EST 
  • Registration Link:   Information Session Registration
• RFA Closes 11:59 PM EDT – January 27th, 2023
• Final Award Notification – February 3rd, 2023

We encourage leaders from ACCT member colleges to forward this call for applications to relevant department heads at your institutions for consideration prior to the December deadline. Click on the following link to learn more and apply: ACCT SNAP E&T.

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 eighth  interactive map is New Hampshire. SHSF found that 75% of New Hampshire's community and technical colleges have a transit stop within walking distance. 25% 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 New Hampshire's accessibility click here. To view the interactive map click here​​​​​​​.

• January 6 - deadline to apply for Nursing Expansion Grant Program 
• January 12 - deadline to apply for Special Education Research and Development (R&D) Center Grant

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

• 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.

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