January 26, 2026

Leading the News this Week

With the looming government funding deadline of Friday, January 30th, community college advocates are watching the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education and other unfinished spending bills awaiting passage in the Senate. Lack of agreement over the Department of Homeland Security funding may move the government closer to another shutdown. Read on to the next section for additional information.

News in Higher Education

House Passes Labor-HHS-Education Spending Bill in Broad Bipartisan Vote; Senate Democrats Demand Decoupling Homeland Security Spending Before Friday's Deadline

Thursday night, January 22, in a broad bipartisan vote, the House passed the three-bill minibus package that would fund the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and other Related agencies. As a refresher, of top interest to community colleges is the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill, where both Senate and House appropriators have agreed to direct $78.79 billion and $13.46 billion in discretionary funding to the Departments of Education and Labor, respectively. 

Thanks to the strong advocacy of the community college community, the final LHHS bill rejects proposed cuts and eliminations of student aid and other critical programs. Of all ACCT appropriations priorities for FY26, all programs received level funding or a minor increase, except the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP), which is set to face a $10 million reduction. As such, one of ACCT's legislative priorities for FY27 is to advocate for SIP funding that matches FY24 levels. Please take a look at our ACCT Now blog for a deeper dive on the LHHS bill.

Separately, last Thursday, the House also passed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill, nearly along partisan lines. The Senate had planned to vote this week on these remaining spending bills as one package. Senate Democrats have spoken out against the DHS bill, asking for more restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and decoupling the DHS bill from the rest of the funding package. 

If the remaining appropriations bills are not signed into law and there is no Continuing Resolution by the January 30th government funding deadline, there will be a partial government shutdown.

ICYMI: Community College Priorities (Green Sheet) is Now Available

Today, ACCT's Government Relations Team was joined by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in an hour-long webinar unveiling the 2026 Community College Legislative Priorities, also known as the Green Sheet. Please take a look at our NLS Resource Page, where you can find the Green Sheet, a recording of the webinar, and the slide deck. Finally, reach out to the ACCT government relations team at publicpolicy@acct.org with any questions.      

Webinar: Preparing for Workforce Pell: Overview of Draft Regulations

Join the ACCT Public Policy team and Jobs for the Future on Thursday, January 29 at 1: 00 PM ET for a presentation and discussion on the draft rules from the U.S. Department of Education to regulate the Workforce Pell program. Approved by consensus by the negotiated rule-making committee, these rules will govern the program when it begins on July 1, 2026. Register here.

Class of 2026 Shows Increases in FAFSA Submission 

According to the National College Attainment Network (NCAN), 37 percent of the high school class of 2026 has submitted a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) through January 16, 2026. This amounts to more than 1,538,172 national FAFSA completions and nearly a 62 percent increase compared to filers in the class of 2025. Click here to view NCAN's FAFSA resources and tracker, which uses publicly-available U.S. Department of Education FAFSA completion data.

Preparing for NLS

With the Community College National Legislative Summit (NLS) happening from February 8 to 11, now is the time to start thinking about how to best prepare. To assist you in this process, visit ACCT's website, where you can find resources that include a timeline of steps to take each month leading up to NLS, a short video guide on how to set up a meeting with members of Congress on Capitol Hill, and a federal funds worksheet that assists with narrowing down the key data points to collect for your Hill meetings.

Grant Opportunities

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

• January 26: Deadline to submit comments for the request for information to update the Accreditation Handbook
• January 29: Preparing for Workforce Pell: Overview of Draft Regulations
• February 8-11, 2026: National Legislative Summit

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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