Earlier this week, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in a hearing, “Examining the Education Department’s Policies, Priorities, and FY 2023 Financial Audit Failure.” The hearing primarily discussed recent challenges that students, families and postsecondary institutions have encountered with the Department of Education’s new Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) form, and issues of free speech and civil liberties as protests persist on college campuses across the country.  

Cardona spent a good portion of the hearing fielding questions regarding the latest updates and struggles with FAFSA processing. He assured lawmakers that the system is improving and that more applications have been filed of late, arguing that the new application will yield a more inclusive and productive process in the future, but lawmakers remain skeptical. Many lawmakers also pressed Cardona on efforts to help curb antisemitism and islamophobia on college campuses in the wake of many large-scale demonstrations taking place across the nation.  

In addition to these broader issues, House CTE Caucus co-chair, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, and several other Members raised questions related to CTE.  

Rep. Courtney initially voiced interest in CTE, referencing 8.5 million job openings. They discussed the skills gap, and Cardona voiced his support for CTE, having graduated from a technical high school himself.  

Rep. Thompson later discussed many of the benefits of CTE with Cardona, noting the high rates of secondary graduation and postsecondary completion and placement rates. He also discussed how CTE programs align with local labor markets, specifically referencing the health care sector, in the aftermath of a global pandemic. Rep. Thompson questioned Cardona on proposed potential regulations related to Perkins, and why regulations would be necessary after the last six years of successful implementation. Cardona did not provide details in his response but expressed an interest in shared goals and further collaboration with Congress to expand access to CTE programs.  

Rep. Bonamici, House CTE Caucus co-chair, also expressed her support for CTE, thanking Cardona for his support and interest in the cause. 

The hearing can be accessed here. 

Last week, Congress held multiple hearings pertaining to education and workforce development, with testimony from both Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, and Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. Meanwhile the Departments of Education and Labor continued to stay busy, working on FAFSA processing and preparing for their first Youth Apprenticeship Week, May 5-11. Keep reading for more details! 

• Kaine Reintroduces Bill to Expand Skills Training for New Infrastructure Jobs: Senator Kaine reintroduced the Building U.S. Infrastructure by Leveraging Demands for Skills (BUILDS) Act. The legislation would help develop high-quality work-based learning programs to train workers for in-demand infrastructure careers, and ACTE has endorsed this bill. 
• House Committee on Education and the Workforce Holds Hearing “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Labor”: The House Committee on Education and the Workforce heard testimony from Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su regarding various topics impacting the Department and the American workforce today, including Registered Apprenticeship, WIOA, and other job training, CTE and workforce development initiatives. Read more on the CTE Policy Watch Blog. 
• Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 CTE Earmarks Analysis: ACTE has analyzed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 omnibus appropriations bill signed into law in March 2024, which contained over 130 earmarks that awarded funding to educational institutions, government agencies and nonprofit partners related to CTE and workforce development. Read more on the CTE Policy Watch Blog to get ideas for future requests. 
• Youth Apprenticeship Week: May 5-11, the Departments of Education and Labor are celebrating the first Youth Apprenticeship Week, designated to uplift and promote the opportunities available for young people to gain in-demand skills and prepare for the workforce. Tune into the “Investing in America” Agenda: Registered Apprenticeship and Other Pathways for Opportunity Youth webinar to learn more, and follow ACTE’s public policy social media (@ACTEpolicy) to keep up with Youth Apprenticeship Week content! 
• New Training at the Registered Apprenticeship Academy: The Registered Apprenticeship Academy shared newly published training modules available to Registered Apprenticeship Sponsors, registration agencies and Department of Labor-funded investment partners. 
• Biden Administration Will Rework Policies For Federal Tech Employees: The Administration announced this week that there will be a new focus on skills-based hiring, and a focus on testing candidates for capabilities instead of relying educational credentials to qualify job-seekers for federal IT roles. 
• Department of Education Completes Processing for Impacted FAFSA Forms: The Department of Education announced that it has completed reprocessing 2024-25 FAFSA forms impacted by known issues with IRS data, enabling all institutions to package financial aid offers.  
• Department of Labor Awards Grants to Support Training and Increase Apprenticeships in High-Demand Careers: The Department of Labor announced $98M in grants to provide training and employment services to expand apprenticeship opportunities, prepare young workers for quality jobs and strengthen the workforce to meet industry demands.  

On Wednesday, acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee on the policies and priorities of the Department of Labor.  

During Su’s opening testimony, she highlighted many aspects of President Biden’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2025. She stated that the budget “includes major new investments through the $8 billion mandatory Career Training Fund and a new $50 million investment in the Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness program, both of which will support the development and expansion of public-private partnerships between employers, education and training providers, and community-based groups to equitably deliver high-quality training focused on growing industries.”  

The hearing became contentious as members of the committee used their time to question Su on new regulations. House CTE Caucus co-chair Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-PA) expressed concerns about the proposed regulations regarding CTE programs and apprenticeships. He said that the rules would expand federal control over already successful programs. “Just because each of these are successful on their own does not mean the Department of Labor should have any role in forcing them together through regulation,” Thompson stated. 

In her response, Su replied that the intention of rules is to “braid together more connectivity,” and not to limit CTE programs.  

Thompson later added that the new rules would also require new CTE apprenticeships to adhere to new “industry skills frameworks,” which would dictate CTE curriculum in violation of federal law. 

ACTE submitted extensive comments regarding the proposed apprenticeship regulations back in March, and we continue to follow and weigh on this important conversation.  

A recording of hearing can be found here. 

Expanding the Role of the Four-year Institution for Seamless Success in Career Pathways: Advance CTE has published a brief that discusses the challenges facing postsecondary administrators in their efforts to ensure that learners seamlessly transition across two-and four-year institutions while also highlighting strategies at the state and local levels to overcome these challenges. Researchers discovered that approximately 80% of community college learners have the desire to transfer to a four-year college but only 33% of these earners end up completing a transfer.

Strategies and recommendations for policymakers and administrators are described below:

• Implement a regulated and uniform course numbering system to provide learners a clear understanding of courses that match between and across institutions.
• Ensure statewide guaranteed transfers of associate degrees to allow learners with this credential to receive all their credits and junior standing upon transferring.
• Collect and report disaggregated data to support four-year institutions in making more informed decisions.
• Incorporate learner voices into decision-making processes to better understand unique challenges and support student academic success.

One of the states highlighted in the report is Colorado, which is one of eight states across the nation that has all four of the ideal policies — reverse transfer, common course numbering, transferrable core courses and guaranteed transfer — named in the report. However, the state did not stop there in its efforts to support learners with initiatives such as the Bridge to Bachelor’s Degree Program saving students an average of $10,000 in expenses.

Adult Education Performance Reports: The U.S. Department of Education has released 2022-23 data for the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA). National AEFLA program year (PY) 2022-23 key metrics and insights are shared below:

• PY 2022-23 saw over 1.1 million enrollees for an annual increase of 22%, representing the largest consecutive growth of all WIOA core programs combined.
• Over 290,000 new youth participants ages 16-24 enrolled in PY 2022-23, which is twice the number participating in WIOA Title I Youth Programs.
• Enrollment for groups such as migrant/seasonal workers, low-income individuals, and youth experiencing homelessness or who have left home all increased in comparison to PY 2021-22 levels, with enrollment in corrections education growing by 16%.
• National performance went up across the board, with the largest rise coming from the Median Earnings during the Second Quarter after Exit indicator at a 9.1% increase.

How Rural Community College-Industry Partnerships Help Communities Thrive: A recently published National Skills Coalition report highlights the benefits that rural community college-industry partnerships bring to learners, employers and the economic prosperity of rural communities.

The report explores the diversity of rural communities, sharing that agriculture and mining make up less than 10% of rural jobs across the nation, with service and manufacturing jobs and small businesses playing major roles in the rural workforce. In addition, clean energy jobs represent a larger proportion of jobs available in rural areas than in urban centers and are growing at a faster rate.

Researchers interviewed 10 community college administrators and 13 issue-area experts across the nation who highlighted successful cases such as Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, which has eliminated silos between credit and noncredit programs and reorganized itself into eight schools organized by industry sector.

Key factors for success and scalable solutions include the following:

• Bridge siloes across systems and industries to prioritize student experiences and adapt to employer needs.
• Design industry partnership programs that help underrepresented learners build the skills and competencies required for good jobs and that lead to quality credentials.
• Invest in direct student financial aid to support learner access to postsecondary pathways and careers with local employers.
• Engage postsecondary administrators, teachers, industry, parents and students directly in the implementation process to allow them to share their nuanced understanding of potential solutions to the issues facing rural institutions.

ACTE has analyzed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 omnibus appropriations bill signed into law in March 2024, which contained over 130 projects that awarded funding to educational institutions, government agencies and nonprofit partners related to CTE and workforce development. Total funding for this year’s CTE-related earmarks equaled over $137 million.

The earmarks or congressionally directed spending opportunities allow Members of Congress to guarantee a specific amount for grantees for the direct benefit of their state or district. ACTE’s analysis of these FY 2024 earmarks found the following:

• CTE and workforce development projects funded through the U.S. Department of Education Higher Education Act account received $75.6 million through 72 earmarks.
• CTE and workforce development projects funded through the U.S. Department of Labor Education and Training Administration account received $43.5 million through 36 earmarks.
• CTE-related projects funded through the U.S. Department of Education Innovation and Improvement account received $18.8 million through 30 earmarks.

Thirty-three states received funding earmarked for CTE-related projects in FY 2024 with Kansas receiving the most money, totaling $8.56 million, and West Virginia receiving the most earmarks with 10 total projects funded. CTE and workforce development projects that received the most funding are listed below:

• $6 million for Midlands Technical College in South Carolina
• $4.675 million for Fox Valley Workforce Development Board in Wisconsin
• $4 million for Kansas State University Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus in Kansas
• $4 million for Henry Ford College in Michigan

In addition to these projects, additional CTE and workforce development projects were funded through organizations like unions and hospitals, so we encourage you to check out the FY 2024 appropriations bill to see more earmarks in your state that may be of relevance to CTE.

Today ACTE published CTE: Developing the Arts, Media and Entertainment Workforce as part of our revamped series of Sector Sheets describing CTE’s role in growing the workforce for vital industry sectors. The Sector Sheet series is published with support from ACTE’s long-time partner Pearson.

This Sector Sheet describes how CTE supports the arts, media and entertainment workforce, which employs about 3 million people nationwide. It also shares information on occupations, earnings and credentials that enable individuals to succeed in the animation, game design and visual effects; performance, music and live entertainment; and media production sub-sectors.

In addition, the Sector Sheet demonstrates the importance of CTE in developing this workforce by describing how CTE prepares learners through courses, industry credentials, work-based learning, career and technical student organizations and more.

Both the newer and older Sector Sheets are available on the ACTE Sector Sheet webpage for download and use. We encourage you to share these tools with students, families, counselors, policymakers and others to spread the message about CTE and its benefits for learners and the workforce.

Congress took recess most of last week after the final passage of the emergency foreign aid supplemental to provide funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other security interests. As Capitol Hill was quiet, the media focused largely on growing protests on college campuses and Supreme Court activity. The Administration was also busy, announcing several new grant programs and federal regulations while hosting the Attaining College Excellence and Equity Summit. 

• Senate Appropriations Committee Announces Hearing to Review the Administration’s Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Bill Request: The Senate Appropriations Committee announced a hearing this week, during which Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will testify on the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget request for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Bill. 
• House Committee on Education and the Workforce Announces Full Committee Hearing: The House Committee on Education and the Workforce announced a hearing for this week, “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Labor,” to hear testimony from Acting Secretary of Labor, Julie Su.  
• Biden-Harris Administration to Create National Recognition Program for Institutions that Increase Economic Mobility: Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced that the Department of Education will develop a new Postsecondary Student Success Recognition Program to uplift higher ed institutions that support student success. 
• Department of Labor Announces Funding for Career Training Services: The Department of Labor announced $49.2 in available funds for career training services in the Appalachian, Lower Mississippi Delta and Northern Border regions. This is part of the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) Initiative. 
• The Department of Education’s Office for Career and Technical Adult Education (OCTAE) Updated their Community College Page: OCTAE updated their website to provide more community college facts and resources. Information regarding current initiatives, funding opportunities and other background facts and information are readily available. 
• Department of Education Announced Semifinalists for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program: The Department of Education announced the semifinalists for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, including nearly 60 students enrolled in CTE programming. Finalists are normally announced in early summer. 
• Department of Agriculture (USDA) To Invest in Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s (AFRI) Education and Workforce Development Program: USDA has $49.5 million to invest in the AFRI Education and Workforce Development program, and will expand job-based experiential learning opportunities to prepare students for the workforce. 
• Department of Labor Adds New Federally Funded Projects to Promote Equal Access to Good Jobs, per the Investing in America Agenda: The Department of Labor announced the addition of 16 large infrastructure projects, funded through the Administration’s $2 trillion Investing in America agenda, to the Mega Construction Project Program. 
• Department of Labor Announces New Overtime Rule: The Administration announced a final rule updating overtime rules for millions of lower-income salaried employees. The new rule raises salary thresholds required to exempt a salaried executive, administrative or professional employee from federal overtime pay requirements. Read more on the CTE Policy Watch Blog.