The midterm elections are 18 days away, and this is occupying the time or most Members of Congress as they campaign in their home states. Still, there were several relevant announcements this week in DC, such as the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) releasing 2024-2025 Perkins data and the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) releasing FAQs on Workforce Pell implementation. Read more policy updates below.

• OCTAE Releases 2024-25 Perkins Data: OCTAE recently released Perkins CTE enrollment and performance data for the 2024-25 school year. ACTE is currently analyzing the data and will publish our findings on this blog. In the meantime, readers can explore the data themselves through the Perkins Data Explorer.
• ACTE and Advance CTE Submit Comments on Two Regulatory Proposals: This week, ACTE and Advance CTE submitted comments on two regulatory proposals from different agencies. The first set of comments address the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to potentially end the E-rate program, and the second express support for ED’s changes to the Consolidated Annual Report under Perkins.
• FSA Releases FAQs on Workforce Pell: On October 15, FSA released FAQs that address Workforce Pell implementation and requirements for postsecondary institutions. Readers can access the resource here.
• ED Planning to Offload FSA: Reporting from the Washington Sun this week indicates that ED is planning to eliminate its federal student aid office and establish a new independent agency that would take over its functions. The Department is reportedly planning to spin off FSA by October of next year. This follows ED’s move earlier this year to transfer some responsibilities of FSA to the Treasury Department.
• NSF Announces Grant Funding for S-STEM Program: The National Science Foundation recently announced grant funding for its S-STEM Program, which provides grants for postsecondary institutions to award scholarships to low-income students pursuing academic and technical degree programs in STEM fields. Applications from colleges are due March 2 of next year.
• Congressional Democrats Condemn Funding Transfer: On Oct. 14, congressional Democrats sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon condemning the reallocation of funding for minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to other grant programs. The reallocation was announced on September 22, when ED declared that millions of FY25 and FY26 funding for MSIs would be transferred to historically Black colleges and universities as well as tribal colleges.
• Senate Appropriators Call on ED to Not Frontload Grants: On Oct. 14, Sens. Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Baldwin (D-WI), ranking member of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon. They accused ED of “frontloading” grants, or making multiyear funding available in one lump sum ahead of time rather than funding a larger number of grants over time. They claim could have awarded over 1,000 additional grants if they used the traditional approach.
• Secretary of Education Visits Minnesota and New Hampshire on National Tour: On Oct. 14, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon visited Dakota County Technical College in Rochester, MN, observing programs for veterinary technology, process technology and electrical linework. On Oct. 15, she visited the Manchester School of Technology in New Hampshire, where she toured the specialized woodworking, cosmetology and aviation programs.