April 26, 2022 Short-Term Pell Grant Program Eligibility Information RequestCongress is currently working to reconcile the differences between two pieces of legislation that each have the goal of making the United States more competitive on the international stage in the areas of technology and scientific research. Top priorities include semiconductor chip manufacturing, cyber security, and medical research. The House version of this bill includes a provision to allow the Pell Grant to be used for short-term workforce training programs. ACCT is seeking examples of short-term programs (150-600 clock hours) that would both be eligible for short-term Pell and prepare workers to be employed in fields related to the bill, such as high-tech manufacturing, cyber security, or laboratory research. If your institution has examples of programs that would meet such criteria or would be interested in establishing programs that would qualify, please fill out this form to let us know. Community College Funding Priorities for the 2023 Fiscal YearAs Congressional Appropriators collect input from all members of Congress to draft proposed funding legislation, we encourage you to reach out to your elected officials and ask them to support community college funding priorities in the upcoming fiscal year 2023 (FY23) appropriations process. You can reach out to your U.S. Representative or Senators directly by using our action campaign here. Department of Education Announces New Second Chance Pell SitesThis morning, the Department of Education (ED) announced that an additional 73 institutions of higher education have been invited to participate in ED’s Second Chance Pell Experiment. The experiment began under the Obama administration and was subsequently expended by the Trump and Biden administrations, now totaling 200 Second Chance Pell sites. The list of new institutions invited can be found here. In December 2020, Congress expanded access to Pell Grants once again to include students who are incarcerated, this latest expansion to the Experimental sites will broaden the reach of the program while ED works on regulations for the new law. ED intends to then fully implement the legislative changes to allow eligible students in college-in-prison programs to access Federal Pell Grants beginning on July 1, 2023. The Biden administration announced the expansion as part of ongoing efforts to provide more opportunities to formerly incarcerated individuals, including changes to policies to help incarcerated individuals with defaulted loans. The administration clarified that incarcerated individuals qualify for a “fresh start,” which returns borrowers with defaulted loans to repayment in good standing and allows them to access programs like the Second Chance Pell Experiment. The Department will also allow incarcerated individuals to consolidate their loans to help them exit default in the long term. The administration has published a fact sheet outlining other efforts to help formerly incarcerated individuals. House Appropriations Committee HearingThis week, on Thursday, April 28, 2022, The House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) subcommittee on Appropriations will hold a hearing on the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for the Department of Education. The hearing will take place in room 2358-C of the Rayburn House Office Building and will be streamed live. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will testify in front of the subcommittee. 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. 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 (twitter.com/CCTrustees) or like us Facebook (facebook.com/CCTrustees). Have questions? 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. |