March18, 2026
Workforce Pell grant regulations are continuing to evolve with the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) recent “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” now public. AACC is drafting its own response, which will be available to members early the week of March 23, so that campuses can elect to use them in their own submissions by April 8. You are also invited to submit your own original comments with local insights from campuses and state offices. AACC’s summary and analysis may be helpful in crafting your own response.
As we approach the Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking on accreditation, I have asked our government relations office to create an advisory group made up of AACC CEOs. Please submit your name for participation if you are interested.
For those of you thinking about building out apprenticeships in light of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) funding competition, a series of March webinars by DOL may be useful. Apprenticeships for America is also hosting March webinars on specific topics, including funding for re-entry and rural transformation grants. These are valuable opportunities to learn more about the construction of these earn-while-you-learn experiences.
I’m thrilled to be speaking today to the Wisconsin Technical College System, which houses several practical workforce strategies and tools. As outcomes data is increasingly expected by funders, their vivid report on employment tracking—92% of 2024 graduates in the labor force report they were employed within six months of graduation—is a terrific model. Another promising practice worth sharing is Central Wisconsin’s union of apprenticeships, advanced technology, and manufacturing in the AMETA Center.
In my remarks tomorrow to the National Council of Black American Affairs (NCBAA), I will connect my evolving vision for presidential leadership formation to NCBAA’s deep history of leadership training and support. Preparing community college leaders more thoroughly for the demands of our sector was a need I heard clearly in recent membership focused listening sessions.
Opportunities for resilience abound: New America’s recent report on degree apprenticeships is a powerful landscape analysis with some insightful lessons about promising practices. Apprenticeships for early educators is another area in which Michigan is successfully tackling the persistent challenge of sufficient, skilled workers in this sector.
Finally, resilience is embedded in civility ad community engagement at each one of our colleges. This week’s commentary on how community colleges can anchor civility in divided times captures this reality in vivid terms, with some helpful guidance about creating conversations of value on our campuses.