ED Bars Federal Work Study Dollars for Voter Registration, Dear Colleague Letter on DEI and Subsequent Guidance Ruled as Unlawful, TRIO Grants Discontinued
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August 21, 2025
Leading the News this Week
Last week, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the Department of Education acted unlawfully when issuing the Dear Colleague Letter and the FAQ threatening to remove federal funding from programs engaged in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices. Continue to the next section for additional information.
News in Higher Education
Department of Education Bars Federal Work Study Dollars From Being Used for Voter Registration
Two days ago, the Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter, which details that Federal Work Study dollars cannot be used to employ students for work that involves partisan and nonpartisan political activity, regardless of whether the work is on or off-campus. Examples of non-qualifying work include:
- Voter registration
- Voter assistance at a polling place or through a voter hotline
- Serving as a poll worker
This guidance rescinds the Biden-era policy in which Federal Work Study funds could be used for nonpartisan voter registration activity, under the umbrella of civic engagement and a benefit to the community. Meanwhile, the Department also provided additional guidance with regard to the Higher Education Act provision that states institutions must make a “good faith” effort to distribute voter registration forms to each student. The Department does encourage institutions to remind students of election laws and voter eligibility requirements, and that they must not feel obliged to offer voter information materials to students who are not eligible voters.
Dear Colleague Letter on DEI and Subsequent Guidance Ruled as Unlawful
On August 14th, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the Department of Education acted unlawfully when its Office of Civil Rights issued its February 14th Dear Colleague Letter indicating that all institutions of education must eliminate their DEI programming by February 28, 2025, or face the possibility of losing federal funding. The American Federation of Teachers sued the Department, stating that its Dear Colleague Letter issued by the Office of Civil Rights is unlawful. The August 14th ruling vacated the Department’s Dear Colleague Letter and accompanying guidance.
TRIO Grants Discontinued
According to national partners, about 35 TRIO grants have been discontinued or cancelled by the Department of Education. This includes TRIO programs such as Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math-Science, and TRIO Training Grants. In addition, for the new cycle, some awardees were informed by the Department that their grants were not considered for the 2025-2026 cycle because of concerns with DEI. Meanwhile, for this fiscal yearTRIO programming was appropriated $1.2 billion, and for the next fiscal year, the Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to level fund TRIO while President Trump has requested to eliminate this funding. Here at ACCT, we are monitoring the situation and will provide updates once we can gather more information.
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