- House passes their reconciliation package, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”
- Secretary McMahon defends Trump Administration’s budget request
- Senate HELP Committee holds hearing on the state of higher education
House passes their reconciliation package, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”
Early Thursday morning, the House of Representatives passed their massive FY 2025 budget reconciliation bill – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This sets the stage for Senate action and subsequent negotiations between the two chambers. As AACC’s David Baime covers in the Community College Daily, the House-passed bill contains some positive features, overall, it would make college far more expensive for community college students and endanger their participation and success. Institutions would also face new vulnerabilities, including a new risk-sharing scheme and increased pressure on state budgets. AACC opposed the House bill, which cuts $352 billion from mandatory higher education funding over ten years.
The proposal makes devastating cuts to Pell Grant eligibility for community college students, reducing the size of grants for students enrolled in less than 15 credits per semester and eliminating Pell Grant eligibility altogether for students enrolled in less than 8 credits per semester. It also institutes a new risk-sharing scheme for institutions, eliminates in-school loan subsidies, and shifts costs for the Medicaid and SNAP programs to states – limiting resources that states can use to invest in higher education. The bill does include some items welcomed by community colleges – including $10.5 billion to address the Pell Grant shortfall and Pell eligibility for students in short-term, workforce programs. AACC remains deeply concerned about the negative net impact on our institutions and students.
With House action completed, attention now turns to the Senate. Many Senate Republicans have indicated that they will be unable to accept some of the House bill’s provisions without modifications, setting up an eventual compromise product. AACC will continue to advise campus leaders on how to best advocate for a final bill that will not unduly limit community college student success, and even enhance it in some areas.
Secretary McMahon defends Trump Administration’s budget request
On Wednesday, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon appeared before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS-ED) to defend President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY 26) “skinny budget” request for the Department of Education (ED).
As AACC’s Jim Hermes covered in the Community College Daily earlier this month, the skinny budget seeks to deliver a 22.6 percent cut to discretionary, non-defense funding, including a 15 percent cut to funding for the Department of Education (ED). While some of these cuts reflect decreased staffing and administrative costs after the administration’s Reduction in Force (RIF) actions, the budget does propose full-scale elimination of or significant reductions to key programs, including Federal Work Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Child Care Access Means Parents in School, TRIO, GEAR-UP, and the HEA Title III-A Strengthening Institutions Program. The Trump Administration has yet to release a full budget request document, which would detail exact funding requests for each program, including the Pell Grant program.
As AACC’s Tabitha Whissemore covers in the Community College Daily, Democratic appropriators pressed Sec. McMahon on staffing reductions, canceled support contracts, and whether the agency can still carry out its statutory responsibilities. Republican appropriators praised the Secretary’s efforts to reduce the size of the agency and the budget’s efforts to return more education policymaking to the states. However, members on both sides of the aisle shared concerns over proposed cuts to the TRIO program.
As a reminder, while the budget request does signal the administration’s priorities, Congress is still tasked with appropriating funding for discretionary programs, and appropriations bills will require bipartisan support to pass the Senate.
Senate HELP Committee holds hearing on the state of higher education
Also on Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) held a hearing on “the troubling state of higher education.” Witnesses included advocates, academics, and college and university leaders, including Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, chancellor of the Austin Community College District. As AACC’s Matthew Dembicki covered in the Community College Daily, witnesses discussed several challenges facing higher education and ways to promote access, affordability, and student success. Each witness highlighted the importance of the Pell Grant program, with Dr. Lowery-Hart underscoring the potential negative impact of limiting Pell Grants for part-time students, as proposed in the House reconciliation bill.
At the time of this writing, the HELP Committee is considering key Trump Administration appointees for the Departments of Education and Labor, including Henry Mack III’s nomination to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, Kevin O’Farrell’s nomination to serve as Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the Department of Education, and Nicholas Kent’s nomination to serve as Under Secretary of Education – the federal government’s top higher education policy role.