- ICYMI: New CBO estimates put the Pell Grant program in a shortfall
- Chair Walberg hosts first Ed & Workforce Committee hearing, more higher education hearings next week
ICYMI: New CBO estimates put the Pell Grant program in a shortfall
Late last month, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued revised estimates on projected Pell spending over the next decade. As AACC’s David Baime covers in the Community College Daily, the estimates predict that the Pell Grant program will enter a deficit in Fiscal Year 2025 (FY 25) and that, absent action from Congress to shore up the program, the shortfall will grow to $98 billion by FY 36. Ensuring the long-term stability of the Pell Grant program is of critical importance for community colleges and their students. AACC will continue to advocate for this most important federal program and will ask its members – including those attending AACC and ACCT’s National Legislative Summit next week – to do the same.
Chair Walberg hosts first Ed & Workforce Committee hearing, more higher education hearings next week
On Wednesday, the new Chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), hosted his first hearing entitled “The State of American Education.” The hearing covered a broad array of topics, from K-12 through higher education and workforce training.
In his opening remarks, Chair Walberg emphasized the need to align both K-12 and higher education programs with workforce needs and to address college costs through accountability, rather than debt cancellation or forgiveness measures. Walberg mentioned his continued support for the A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWAA), the committee’s bipartisan Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) reauthorization proposal that passed the House last year, and his intention to advance the legislation in the new Congress. A version of ASWAA was nearly included in the year-end funding extension bill, but it was ultimately removed as the larger bill was whittled down.
Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-Virginia) used his opening remarks to criticize recent actions by the Trump Administration, including executive orders to limit the application of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) principles by federal agencies and stakeholders receiving federal dollars and the President’s stated intention to eliminate the Department of Education (ED). Ranking Member Scott also signaled Committee Democrats’ intention to reintroduce the Lowering Obstacles to Achievement (LOAN) Act, which would double the federal Pell Grant and make student loan terms more generous for borrowers.
Witnesses included Preston Cooper, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who focused his testimony on the loan repayment, loan origination, and risk-sharing provisions of the College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA), introduced by former Ed & Workforce Chair, Dr. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina), last Congress. While many of the provisions of the CCRA are promising, AACC opposes the bill’s central risk-sharing scheme and has communicated that opposition to committee members. Other witnesses included Janai Nelson, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, who focused her testimony on ED’s role in protecting students’ civil rights, and Johnny C. Taylor, president of the Society for Human Resource Management, who spoke on the need for innovation in K-12 and higher education to better prepare students for skills-based hiring.
The hearing activity will continue next week. On Wednesday, February 12, the House Appropriations Committee will host a hearing titled “Career Ready Students: Innovations from Community Colleges and the Private Sector.” Witnesses will include Dr. Vicki Karolewics, President of Wallace State Community College, Preston Cooper, Senior Fellow at AEI, Dr. Mary Alice McCarthy, Director of New America’s Center on Education & Labor, and Dennis Parker from Toyota Motor North America’s Regional Talent Development team.
On Thursday, February 13, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) will be considering the nomination of Linda McMahon to serve as Secretary of Education. The confirmation hearing will begin at 10:00 am ET.