- Trump Administration to release remaining education funding after push from Republican Senators
- Senate committee holds education funding markup
- DOJ releases guidance on DEI programs
- The College Transparency Act reintroduced in the House and Senate
- Register for Advocates in Action 2025!
Trump Administration to release remaining education funding after push from Republican Senators
Last Friday, Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) announced that the Trump Administration will be releasing the remaining education formula funding grants to states. She had announced last week via X that the Trump Administration would be releasing some of the funds, but this turned out to be only referring to funds supporting 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Today’s announcement clarifies that all $7 billion in federal education grants will be released, including the more than $715 million for Adult Basic Education Grants.
AACC does not yet have details on a new disbursement timeline, but we expect that information to be forthcoming.
Senate committee holds education funding markup
As of this writing, the Senate Appropriations Committee is holding a markup for the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY 26) Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill. Prior to amendments, the Committee favorably reported the bill with a roll-call vote of 25 to 3, signaling the bipartisan nature of the appropriations process in the Senate. The bill text and report language are expected to be released shortly after the conclusion of the markup. AACC will offer an analysis of the bill when it becomes available.
The House Appropriations Committee’s scheduled July markup of the same bill was pushed back until early September.
DOJ releases guidance on DEI programs
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a memo to all federal funding recipients sharing their interpretation of illegal consideration of race in education programming, admissions, and hiring. The memo builds on the February 14 Dear Colleague Letter from the Department of Education (ED) outlining colleges’ nondiscrimination obligations under the Administration’s interpretation of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. While neither the DOJ memo nor the DCL constitutes a change in statute or case law, the actions indicate that colleges will continue to be under increased scrutiny for the consideration of race in campus decisions, including those outside of admissions.
The College Transparency Act reintroduced in the House and Senate
On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers reintroduced the College Transparency Act in both the House and Senate. The bill would create a federal student-level data network (SLDN) to deliver a comprehensive picture of student outcomes across higher education. The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has long supported this legislation. It will benefit the sector by finally counting all community college students (including those that do not receive Title IV aid), better capturing transfer as a measure of success, decreasing duplicative reporting requirements, and providing stakeholders – including institutions – with better outcomes and earnings information to help refine program offerings, build stronger relationships with employers, and drive student success.
The bill was introduced in the Senate by Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts). In the House, the bill is sponsored by Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois).
Register for Advocates in Action 2025!
Registration is now open for AACC’s annual Advocates in Action! The two-day seminar will take place in Washington, D.C. on September 16 and 17.
For those who have not yet attended, the program is designed for community college leaders who want an insider’s view on how Washington formulates higher education policy and who want to become more involved in the federal legislative process. Interactive sessions with key executive branch officials and senior Congressional staff will provide valuable insights about the current dynamics and issues surrounding key funding and other pending legislation. Time is reserved for attendees to meet with their federal legislators to advocate for community college priorities.
Community college presidents, trustees, government relations directors, and other campus administrators are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to network, discuss key policy issues, and advocate for critical federal programs.