After a busy weekend where both the House and Senate managed to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open until Nov. 17, the Senate had very little activity this week, and is now recessed until October 16. The House, however, saw unprecedent events unfold as former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was voted out of his role. The House is now beginning the process of electing a new speaker, but it is uncertain how long this may take. In the meantime, House activity is at a standstill, potentially impacting numerous pieces of legislation awaiting consideration. Read further news and notes below:

• Appropriations Update: With a new CR in place until November 17, Congress now needs to return to the process of considering appropriations bills. Currently, the House has passed four of its 12 funding bills, all on a partisan basis, while the Senate is still working to pass its first set of three bills. The Senate plans to return to votes on these bills when they return, but the situation in the House is likely to slow further appropriations consideration there. Both sides remain far apart in terms of total spending levels. As this process continues to advance, it is critical that you continue to let your Members of Congress know you prefer the reasonable investments in the Senate bill.
• Department of Education Appoints New Members to National Assessment Governing Board: ED has announced the appointment of 11 education leaders (seven new members and four reappointed members) to the National Assessment Governing Board, the organization that oversees the Nation’s Report Card. These new members are set to be sworn in at the governing board’s quarterly meeting in November. The full governing board members list is linked here.

• Department of Education Announces an Additional Student Debt Relief Measure: ED and the Biden-Harris Administration have announced an additional $9 billion in student debt relief for more than 125,000 Americans through fixes that the Department has made to income-driven repayment (IDR) and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The new measure also grants automatic loan cancellation to borrowers with total and permanent disabilities.

• Department of Labor Announces Funding for Continued Temporary Employment and Workforce Training Support After Hurricane Ian: DOL has announced an incremental award of $7.5 million in funding to support the efforts of disaster-relief employment and workforce development and training for eligible residents in the state of Florida as the area continues to recover from the effects left behind by Hurricane Ian. The funds will be available for the Florida Department of Commerce to provide residents with relief services including support for career and training programs.

State of CTE Funding: Advance CTE recently published the 2023 State of CTE report, which provides an overview of secondary CTE funding models across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It also serves as a resource for those interested in conducting side-by-side state comparisons of funding models and related factors. One of the report’s key findings is that CTE funding models are deeply varied and complex due to the reliance on a mix of federal, state and local policies to provide funds for secondary CTE.

More findings from the report below:

• The categorical student-based funding approach, which distributes funds relative to the number of CTE learners enrolled, is the most common model used by states (23).
• States have increased their CTE funding over the past 10 years, with an average state increase of over $180 million, reflecting the growing focus and attention on CTE by policymakers.
• Secondary CTE programs of study used state funds to support equitable access (65%), program of study completion (56%) and the purchase of equipment and resources (54%).
• Maine was the state with the highest amount of CTE funds per FTE in FY 2022 with a range of $7,500-7,999.

The report recommends that CTE leaders actively look for opportunities for continuous improvement to better their models in areas such as ongoing policy and practice, formula design and innovation and incentives.

Lessons in how to build students’ social capital through career-connected learning: The Christensen Institute recently published a report that offers field-tested strategies for building learners’ social capital through existing CTE pathways by increased networking opportunities and personal and professional relationships. After an 18-month pilot initiative conducted with partner organizations like Education Strategy Group, researchers developed 10 crucial social capital building lessons for school leaders.

The following list highlights some of these lesson topics. Leaders can implement these lessons to help learners expand their networks and engage in more networking opportunities:

• Embed social capital into your infrastructure. Hiring the right staff can help foster change but embedding practices into curricula, roles and data systems helps maintain it.
• Prioritize building curricula and allocate time and resources for social capital training instead of purchasing poorly fit off-the-shelf products.
• Adapt practices to cultural norms. Social capital requires cooperation between students and staff. Tailor your strategies to align with learner backgrounds.
• Take a show-not-tell approach to teaching about social capital. Rather than adapting it as a subject matter, immerse students in experiences that build their understanding.

Increasing Equitable Postsecondary Value: A report recently published by the Institute for Higher Education Policy tackles the issue of equitable value in postsecondary education by exploring policy interventions that aim to break down barriers and assess the economic value of postsecondary credentials through publicly available data that estimates a minimum economic return to students. Researchers discovered that approximately 88% of public two-year or less-than-two-year institutions provide students with at least a minimum economic return on their investment.

To go beyond the threshold of minimum return, school leaders, administrators and policymakers must address the shortcomings and inequities that underserved learner groups face nationwide. Researchers made the following recommendations to help institutions address these issues and strive further toward equitable value:

• Invest in first-dollar free college programs to increase affordability value by maximizing aid for high-need students.
• Assist low-income background students with non-tuition expenses to reduce affordability barriers and facilitate completion.
• Make financial aid more feasible for low-income students by avoiding restrictions on part-time status, enrollment age, state background and transfer status.
• Advocate for changes in federal and state law to decrease time-to-degree and increase completion rates.

The U.S. Department of Education recently published a report on increasing student diversity, equity and inclusion, which aims to serve as a resource to postsecondary institutions and states in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina et al.

The report describes research demonstrating the effectiveness of pathway programs for increasing diversity and encouraging more low-income and minority students to apply to postsecondary institutions. The authors also note that, despite the resource-intensive nature of pathway programs, in the long run they lead to positive effects on postsecondary application and enrollment rates for underrepresented learners.

The report also highlights dual enrollment as a strategy to boost diversity for postsecondary institutions. However, dual enrollment courses are not equally accessible to low-income students and students of color, who are more likely to attend schools that do not offer this option. Even when it is available to them, barriers such as insufficient advising and financial hardships can disincentivize these learners’ participation.

To increase access, the report highlights examples from states across the country that have developed innovative pathway and dual enrollment approaches. For instance, Georgia is attempting to expand dual enrollment opportunities to underrepresented students by including these courses in its statewide accountability system. New Mexico is building its Four Corners College and Career Pathways Partnership, which aims to help secondary students in rural areas earn 12-30 hours of early college credit. The credits will seamlessly transition to an aligned certificate, a degree program or an apprenticeship program.

In addition, the authors recommended the following strategies that institutions can apply to reach a more diverse pool of student talent:

• Prioritize targeted outreach in communities with higher levels of low-income learners and learners of color.
• Establish partnerships with K-12 educators, counselors, college access groups and other community-based organizations to deliver clear information about postsecondary options to students and their families.
• Establish partnerships between community colleges and four-year institutions to smooth transfer pathways.
• Support visits to college campuses and assign higher numbers of admissions recruiters to high schools with few prior recruitments.
• Provide opportunities to explore career interests and identify the education options that will help students meet their career goals.

Last weekend, Congress temporarily averted a government shutdown by passing a continuing resolution (CR) to keep federal programs operating at current funding levels until November 17. However,  there is still much more work to be done to complete the FY 24 appropriations process, and Congress has just over six weeks to complete this work or face another potential shutdown  

Before the August recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee considered and approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill on a bipartisan basis, which contains a $40 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program and provides significantly more resources to education and workforce development programs than the House version of the bill does. As negotiations on how to move these bills forward continue, we must continue to emphasize to Members of Congress that we support the Senate bill and its higher funding levels! Wrapping up the FY 24 appropriations process will be quite contentious, and your advocacy is critical to elevate the message that the Senate bill is preferable.    

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support the Senate’s $40 million increase for Perkins and overall higher funding levels!     

You can send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. You can also call or email directly any personal contacts that you have in your Members’ offices, such as from a meeting at NPS, or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your Member of Congress.

Over the weekend, Congress passed a stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown. The Continuing Resolution (CR), which President Joe Biden signed late Saturday evening, will keep the federal government funded at current levels until November 17. 

After several failed attempts at a more partisan approach that would have significantly cut funding, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made the proposal early on Saturday, and it eventually passed the House on a 335-91 vote. The Senate took up the CR a few house later and passed the measure 88-9.  

The CR keeps funding levels at Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 levels, a significant victory given some of the other proposals over the past week. The package also includes $16 billion in federal disaster assistance, which meets the president’s full request. However, it does not include any aid to Ukraine, which was a top priority for President Biden and many Members of Congress from both parties. Additional aid is expected to be considered in separate bills.  

Over the next several weeks, Congressional leaders will use this additional time to continue trying to pass additional FY 24 appropriations bills. Leaders in both the House and the Senate will need to come to an agreement, and we will continue advocating for the highest funding level possible for CTE! 

This week in Washington continued to revolve around the appropriations process as Congress made last-ditch efforts to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year. On Thursday, the Senate voted 76-22 to continue moving forward on a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open, but procedural rules could delay an actual vote until the weekend. Meanwhile, the House approved three of its FY 24 appropriations bills in a partisan fashion, including legislation for foreign affairs, homeland security and defense spending. However, these bills will not be able to pass the Senate, and the House has failed on votes to pass its own CR. A shutdown of some length now appears increasingly likely with little time remaining on the clock before the midnight Saturday deadline. You can read more on the appropriations process from early this week here, and we will share the latest updates on Monday! Further news and notes below:

• Department of Education Announces Final Gainful Employment Rules: ED has released final regulations that establish new metrics that all certificate programs at public community and technical colleges and all programs at for-profit institutions must meet to remain eligible for financial aid. Read more on the blog.
• White House Hosts Event on Increasing Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education: On September 28, the White House Domestic Policy Council joined ED to host a virtual event with postsecondary leaders focused on increasing diversity and opportunity at their institutions, including community colleges. The event also highlighted a new report from ED: Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education. 

• Department of Labor Announces Funding to Train and Expand Pathways for Women in Registered Apprenticeships, Nontraditional Occupations: DOL has announced an award of $5 million aimed at increasing the number of women in registered apprenticeship programs. The grant will be dispersed across seven different states and has the goal of connecting more women to good-paying jobs in nontraditional occupations.

• Department of Labor Announces Funding to Improve Job Quality and Expand Access to Jobs in Critical Sectors: DOL has announced multiple grants totaling $16 million aimed at improving job quality and increasing the availability of jobs in the care, climate resiliency and hospitality sectors. The grants will support organizations across 12 states in their efforts to pilot strategies to guide employers, local workforce systems and other partner organizations to enhance the job quality of local communities across the nation.

• ACTE and Advance CTE Submit Comments on Unemployment Compensation Information Data: ACTE and Advance CTE have submitted comments to the Department of Labor (DOL) in response to a request for information (RFI) regarding unemployment compensation (UC) records and related access to these sources of data. Our comments emphasized the importance of UC records as a key source of information on the labor market outcomes of learners enrolled in CTE and other workforce development programs. They also encourage DOL to make UC information more explicitly accessible to CTE stakeholders as they work to better support learners, workers and employers regularly served by CTE programs across the nation.

• Department of Education Releases Updated Data Strategy Handbook: ED has released its annual data strategy handbook that describes its vision for accelerating progress toward becoming more data-driven to fully leverage the mission and the purpose of the Department. The strategy is intended to help ED realize the use of high-quality data in advancing priorities and improving education outcomes, policy insights and excellence for the nation’s learners.

On September 26, the Department of Education released its final Gainful Employment (GE) rule. The rule is set to take effect July 1, 2024, with the first data reported in early 2025. 

The final GE rule, which is largely unchanged from the draft rule that the administration released in May, would apply to all certificate programs at public institutions, including community and technical colleges, and all programs at for-profit institutions. These programs would be subject to two new measures of performance.  

First, there is  a new debt-to-earnings rate that compares the median annual payments on loan debt borrowed for the program to the median earnings of its Federally aided graduated. For a program to pass, the debt payments must be no more than 8 percent of annual earnings or 20 percent of discretionary earnings.  

The final rule also includes a new earnings premium test, which would require at least half of program graduates to have higher earnings than a typical high school graduate between the ages of 25 and 34 in their state’s labor force who never enrolled in a postsecondary institution.  

If a program fails either metric in a single year, they will be required to provide warnings to current and prospective students that their program could be at risk of losing federal funding. If a program fails the same metric in two of any three consecutive years, it will no longer be eligible to participate in federal student aid programs. The department estimates that about 1,700 programs serving nearly 700,000 students would fail the debt-earnings ratio test or not pass the earnings threshold. 

The final GE rule also contains a new Financial Vale Transparency (FCT) framework that will “provide information to all students in all programs on the typical earnings outcomes, borrowing amounts, cost of attendance, and sources of financial aid to help students make more informed choices.” 

As the department moves forward with the implementation process, ACTE will continue to keep you informed on what this rule means for your programs and the postsecondary community.