Editor’s note: This weekly update from the government relations office at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) provides the latest on what’s happening in Washington and how AACC is advancing policies to support community colleges and students. Send questions, feedback and more to: kgimborys@aacc.nche.edu.
- FAFSA Deadline Act clears committee markup
- House Appropriations Committee advances LHHS-ED funding bill, contains cuts for key Education and Labor programs
- Ways and Means Committee advances antisemitism bills
FAFSA Deadline Act clears committee markup
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce marked up the FAFSA Deadline Act. The bill would require the Department of Education (ED) to make the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) available to students and families on October 1. Currently, the statutory deadline to release the form is January 1, but ED has typically released the form on October 1. Institutions, states, and other entities have planned their application, admissions, and aid deadlines with that October 1 release date in mind. When the 2024-25 FAFSA was released in late December, it threw those timelines into disarray, delayed financial aid officers’ ability to package aid officers, and gave students less time to complete the form and to make informed college decisions.
The FAFSA Deadline Act, sponsored by Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Indiana), garnered bipartisan support, with all but six Democrats voting to advance the bill. An amendment offered by Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia) also received bipartisan support. The amendment would require the Secretary to certify that the form will be ready to be released on October 1 and to testify before the committee if ED cannot meet the deadline.
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) supports changing the statutory deadline to October 1 to deliver more certainty for students and families and a return to regular order for colleges. AACC continues to underscore to ED and to policymakers the importance of ensuring working functionalities, including the transmission of complete and accurate Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) to colleges, as close as possible to the release of the form.
A name=”funding”>House Appropriations Committee advances LHHS-ED funding bill, contains cuts for key Education and Labor programs
On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee marked up the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY 25) Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS-ED) funding bill. The bill advanced the committee with a 31-25 party-line vote. The bill will now be considered by the full House, with a vote likely to be scheduled ahead of the August recess.
As the American Association of Community Colleges’ (AACC) Jim Hermes details in the Community College Daily, the bill makes deep funding cuts to the Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL). Of particular note for community colleges, the bill eliminates funding for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) youth funding, with significant cuts to campus-based aid programs, WIOA adult education funding, and DOL apprenticeship programs. The bill maintains funding for the Strengthening Community College Training Grant (SCCTG) program, TRIO and GEAR UP, and WIOA dislocated worker programs. The Pell Grant maximum award would also be flat-funded at $7,395 – effectively a cut because it does not account for inflation.
A name=”ways”>Ways and Means Committee advances antisemitism bills
On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced two bills as part of House Republicans’ focus on combatting antisemitism on college campuses. As the Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over tax policy, these bills target colleges’ tax-exempt status. The first bill, the University Accountability Act, would impose new financial penalties for schools that receive a civil judgment for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects students from discrimination based on shared ancestry. If found in violation, a public college must pay $100,000. After three violations, the college may lose its federal tax-exempt status. The second bill, the Protecting American Students Act, would require private universities to exclude international students and DACA recipients from their headcount for the purpose of calculating whether the institution is subject to the endowment tax – effectively increasing the number of institutions that would pay the tax. Some House Republicans have claimed that the presence of international students on campuses exacerbates antisemitic incidents, while others have argued in support of the bill without tying the effort to campus climate issues.
AACC joined the American Council on Education (ACE) and others in strongly opposing both bills.