Take Action on Community College Month and Community College Funding, Seven Executive Orders, Loan Repayment Starting May 5, Mapping Community Colleges Around the World
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April 24, 2025
Leading the News this Week
April is Community College Month! This is a time to reach out and remind your federal elected officials about the importance of community colleges in your communities. Take action by asking them to join the Congressional Community College Caucus and to cosponsor the Congressional Resolution recognizing the significance of “Community College Month,” which identifies April as Community College Month. Also, please check out ACCT's Community College Month toolkit to help you advocate for community colleges all month long!
News in Higher Education
Seven Executive Orders Focused on Education and the Workforce
Yesterday evening, President Donald Trump signed seven executive orders meant to set policy for primary, secondary, and postsecondary education. These orders address topics related to accreditation and apprenticeship programming, among others. Since President Trump’s inauguration, ACCT has been tracking his executive orders related to and impacting higher education.
ACCT took a deep dive into the two executive orders that would have a significant impact on the community college sector: Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education and Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future. Visit ACCT Now (which is also featured in the ACCT Now section of this newsletter) for the full story or check your inbox for a member blast on these presidential actions.
Defaulted Student Loan Payments Will Restart May 5
On April 21, 2025, the Trump administration announced that starting May 5, 2025, collections on defaulted student loans will resume. Payments on most student loans have been on pause since March 2020. While repayments technically started a year ago, many borrowers’ loan repayments were still paused as the various Biden initiatives around student loans, such as the SAVE plan, were challenged in Courts. In the meantime, the prior administration had created an “on-ramp” process that allowed borrowers to keep their loan payments paused and prevented the worst outcome for borrowers, which is defaulting on their loans and sending them to collections. With the SAVE plan scrapped and the various other repayment plans now back online, the Department intends to commence with wage garnishment for borrowers who have defaulted on their loans later in the summer. Meanwhile, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) will make contact with borrowers in default to share these updates with them in addition to student loan payment options.
For additional information, review ACCT's Student Loan Resources.
Mapping Community Colleges Around the World
ACCT and STAR Scholars Network are excited to release Global Snapshots: Models, Missions, and Challenges, the first volume in a new series of briefs Mapping Community Colleges Around the World: Comparative Perspectives and Collaborative Pathways.
Check out the first article (also linked below in the ACCT NOW section) in Global Snapshots, a worldwide survey of community college-like institutions—of which there are over 170 distinct types, all of which provide “access for nontraditional and marginalized students, flexible paths for learning, retooling for future jobs, and opportunities for lifelong learning,” according to authors Rosalind Latiner Raby, Ph.D. and Edward J. Valeau, Ed.D.
Take Action on Community College Funding
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have begun working on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 appropriations bills. The House and the Senate Appropriations Chairs have released guidance for Members of Congress to submit their funding priorities to the committee. This first step is crucial in ensuring that both community colleges' earmark requests and robust funding for key federal programs make it into the final bill. Members of Congress will have separate deadlines for requests from constituents to review and finalize their priorities. Request forms should be found on their official website.
Meanwhile, ACCT sent both Senate and House Appropriations leaders our FY 26 Appropriations programmatic priorities to advocate for federal programs that support our institutions and students. It is imperative that each community college stakeholder communicates the critical need to fund the various programs that directly affect community colleges. Visit ACCT's Action Center to let your member of Congress know the importance of funding programs that support students and institutions.
Also read Full Steam Ahead on Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations on ACCT NOW (also linked below in the ACCT NOW section), where our Director of Government Relations, José Miranda, takes a deep dive into appropriations for FY 2026.
Advocacy Update
With the 119th Congress underway, ACCT has met with education policy staffers on Capitol Hill working in member offices and the House and Senate education committees.
While ACCT has an extensive list of priorities, detailed on the Green Sheet, at this time our advocacy has focused on the following:
- Building momentum for reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). One of the functions of this reauthorization would codify into statute the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants (SCCTG). The December 2024 draft of the Continuing Resolution, a government funding package, included reauthorization language, which was later removed in the final bill in favor of a slimmer funding package.
- Discussing components to include and exclude from the upcoming reconciliation bill. ACCT is advocating against risk-sharing policies that would harm our institutions, and we are advocating for the Tax-Free Pell Grant Act to be included in the final reconciliation package.
- Addressing the looming Pell Grant shortfall through measures that do not restrict Pell Grant eligibility. Historically, efforts that narrow Pell Grant eligibility have adversely affected community college students in greater numbers.
ACCT encourages you to also engage in advocacy efforts and take action by visiting ACCT's Action Center. Here we invite you to participate in our two most recent efforts, our appropriations asks and the promotion of the Congressional Community College Caucus, alongside the Resolution declaring April as Community College Month.
To further enhance our advocacy efforts, the Government Relations Team invites you to email publicpolicy@acct.org to share how recent developments at the federal level have impacted your students and your campus.
- April 29 - Public comment for the Department of Education's Rulemaking Process (In-Person Hearing)
- April 29, 11:59PM ET - Head Start/Early Head Start Grant Application Due
May 1 - Public comment for the Department of Education's Rulemaking Process (Virtual Hearing)
May 2, 1:00PM ET - LAW Live Webinar
May 23 - Deadline for ACCT's Leadership Congress Presentation Proposals
- June 6, 1:00PM ET - LAW Live Webinar
- June 20 - Fire Science Innovations through Research and Education (FIRE) Grant Application Due
- Jul 11, 2025, 01:00 PM ET - LAW Live Webinar
- Aug 1, 2025, 01:00 PM ET - LAW Live Webinar
- Sep 5, 202,5 01:00 PM ET - LAW Live Webinar
- October 22 - 25 - ACCT Leadership Congress
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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