Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Senate Subcommittee Passes Education Funding Bill

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education passed by voice vote its FY2010 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill at $163.1 billion.

The Senate Subcommittee bill is $2.4 billion more than the House bill.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to consider the bill later this week, but Senate floor consideration is unlikely until September.

The Senate bill is $7.6 billion over last year’s funding level and more than what President Obama requested.

The bill maintains the maximum Pell Grant at $4,860; combined with the mandatory funding of $690 for the Pell Grant program, this equals a $5,550 maximum.

The Subcommittee has not disclosed all of the funding levels within the bill, but will release the funding numbers during the full committee’s consideration.

For more information, visit: http://appropriations.senate.gov.

In other significant news, the House will not consider H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, before they adjourn for the August Congressional recess.

The House will likely consider the bill in early September. Read more!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Commentary: Our community colleges are a national treasure by Dr. Jill Biden

Commentary: Our community colleges are a national treasure

By Jill Biden
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service

On Tuesday in Michigan, President Barack Obama announced an important national goal of 5 million additional community college graduates by the year 2020, and a landmark federal investment in community colleges to make it possible. It's a plan that makes sense, as I know firsthand.

I have been an educator for 28 years and I have taught in the community college system for more than 16 years. I don't have to look any further than my classroom to see the power of community colleges to change lives. My students enter the classroom from many different educational, economic and cultural backgrounds, but the community college system puts them on the same path of opportunity: It gives them a sense of confidence that they can achieve what they set out to achieve, and a marketable skill set that will enable them to do it. By supporting community colleges and their students around the country, this administration is expanding the future for millions of Americans.

In the United States there are almost 1,200 community colleges among our 4,100 public and private institutions of higher education. All together, community colleges serve 11.5 million students. As their name suggests, community colleges are uniquely able to address the needs of their communities. They are flexible, offering specialized training programs to address workforce shortages, and often partnering with local businesses to meet the emerging needs of their regions. That is why community colleges have seen the fastest growth among U.S. higher education institutions over the last three decades. The grants that President Obama announced Tuesday will allow community colleges to meet the needs of this rapidly growing enrollment by funding innovative programs that will increase graduation rates, make courses more relevant to business needs, and strengthen ties to high schools and other colleges and universities.

Obama's goal is for the United States to once again have the highest proportion of students graduating from college in the world by 2020 - and he's counting on community colleges to help make good on that promise. I know America's community colleges are up to the task. The grants he announced Tuesday will help these institutions renovate, modernize and expand campus facilities to serve additional students.

I have seen how community colleges fill important gaps, granting two-year degrees, teaching English to immigrants, providing vocational skills training and certification, and teaching basic academic skills to those who may not yet be ready to pursue a four-year degree. It's also hard to ignore the financial advantages: In today's challenging economy, community colleges are an increasingly affordable way for students from middle-class families to complete the first two years of a baccalaureate degree before moving on to a four-year university.
Community colleges typically have open admissions policies, providing training and learning opportunities for everyone who wants them. They are essential to our higher education mission, often providing access to a quality education for students who would otherwise not have that option.

Community colleges make so much sense for so many. From a policy perspective, they make sense; from an economic perspective, they make sense. But I am a teacher, and my experience with community colleges is personal. People sometimes ask me why I choose to teach at a community college, and why I have continued to teach since the presidential inauguration in January. There was never a doubt in my mind that I would keep teaching. The reason is simple: It's the students.

I have always said that my students are my heroes, and this is no exaggeration. I am profoundly moved by their determination to learn, and their quest to make a better life for themselves and their families. In my classes I find single parents who come to school in the evening, weary from a long day, yet eager to create a brighter future for their children. I find men and women who rush to class at the end of a busy work day. It's not easy - but they are determined to be the first in their family to attend college. I see recently unemployed workers who are looking for new skills in growing fields like health care, teaching, information technology and green technology. I see immigrants struggling to learn English who discover that America is indeed a land of opportunity; a place where education opens doors to what is possible.

And I am thrilled that this administration is investing in opening those doors even wider.

I have always said that community colleges are one of America's best-kept secrets - and we have a president who is supports their contribution, bringing more students to community colleges so that they can gain the skills and the confidence they need to succeed in a new era. I can't think of a better investment.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Jill Biden, who has a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware, teaches English at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria. She is the wife of Vice President Joe Biden.
This essay is available to McClatchy-Tribune News Service subscribers. McClatchy-Tribune did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of McClatchy-Tribune or its editors.© 2009, Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services Read more!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

House Committee Passes Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009

Today, the House Education and Labor Committee led by Chairman George Miller (D-CA) passed H.R. 3221, the “Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009,” by a 30-17 vote. The bill eliminates the Federal Family Education Loan Program and originates all new federal student loans through the Direct Loan Program starting in 2010. In total, this conversion generates $87 billion in savings. While there were a number of amendments offered and debated, the intent of the bill and the funding levels for Pell Grants, community college modernization and President Obama’s American Graduation Initiative (no significant changes to the community college programs) were left unchanged.

The bill provides significant funding increases in two key areas:

  • Investing $40 billion to increase the annual Pell Grant maximum to $5,550 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019. Starting in 2010, the maximum will be linked to match rising costs-of-living by indexing it to the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percent; and
  • Providing $9.5 billion for President Obama’s American Graduation Initiative, with $2.5 billion in FY2011 for community college infrastructure and $7 billion (over ten years) for competitive grants to community colleges and states. The funding is broken down to three distinct programs:
    1. 2.5 billion in FY2011 for grants to community colleges to modernize,
      renovate, and repair their facilities.
    2. $6.3 billion over ten years for community college and state competitive
      grants. The first four years are geared towards community colleges and
      states. The remaining six years are targeted towards states. Prior
      to the markup, ACCT worked to include language within the state grant program
      stipulating that no less than 90% of funds to states be allocated to community
      colleges.
    3. $700 million for competitive grants for national activities, including
      grants to develop free online training and courses.

Additionally, the funds other programs including:

  • Providing $3 billion to bolster college access and completion support programs for students;
  • Strengthening the Perkins Loan Program;
  • Keeping interest rates low on need-based – or subsidized – federal student loans by making the interest rates on these loans variable beginning in 2012. These interest rates are currently set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent in 2012;
  • Simplifying the FAFSA form;
  • Providing $2.5 billion for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions;
  • Providing $8 billion for Early Learning Programs; and
  • Providing $10 billion to pay down the federal deficit.


With the Committee process complete, the bill has been referred to the House Budget Committee. There is some discussion about bringing the bill to the floor next week. Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to consider its budget reconciliation bill in early September.

To see the letter of support for H.R. 3221 by ACCT and AACC, visit: http://www.acct.org/Final%20HR3221Support%20Letter.pdf

For more information visit: http://edlabor.house.gov/newsroom/2009/07/legislation-to-make-landmark-i.shtml

Read more!

ACCT/AACC Joint Statement on H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009

Today, the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) and American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) today issued the following official joint statement on H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009.

Click here to read the statement. Read more!

Monday, July 20, 2009

House Appropriations Committee Passes Education Funding Bill

Last Friday, the House Appropriations Committee passed its version of the FY2010 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill at $160.7 billion by voice vote. With Committee passage, the bill now heads to the House floor for consideration. It is expected that the bill will be considered this week or next week. The bill is $5.2 billion over last year’s funding level, but $52 million less than what President Obama requested.

The bill maintains the maximum Pell Grant at $4,860; combined with the mandatory funding of $690 for the Pell Grant program, this equals a $5,550 maximum. Also, the Career and Technical Education programs are level funded at $1.2 billion.

The Committee provides $130 million for the new Career Pathways Innovation Fund (formerly called the Community-Based Job Training Grant program). The allocation for this program is $5 million more than the FY2009 total. It appears that the Departments of Labor and Education will have a role in running this program. The Committee requires that $65 million be used for nursing programs. Additionally, the Committee is providing $50 million to prepare workers for careers in emerging green industries.

The Senate Subcommittee is expected to consider its version of the bill in the next couple of weeks.

For more information, visit: http://appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/sub_lhhse.shtml Read more!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Kanter and Oates Testify on Modernizing Workforce Investment Act

Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety held a hearing on “Modernizing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 to Help Workers and Employers Meet the Changing Demands of a Global Market.” Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter and Assistant Secretary of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Jane Oates testified before the Subcommittee and represented the Obama Administration.

Under Secretary Kanter noted that “the Departments of Education and Labor have been meeting and discussing ways to align programs, leverage resources, and ensure that youth receive the services and support they need, whether in school, out of school, academic, job training, or social services, or a combination of all of these. We intend to reach out to other federal partners, including the Department of Health and Human Services, in these efforts.”

There will be a number of changes to WIA in the upcoming reauthorization. Senators and witnesses noted the important role of community colleges within the workforce system.

  • Under Secretary Kanter’s testimony can be found at: http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_07_16/Kanter.pdf
  • Assistant Secretary Oates’s testimony can be found at: http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_07_16/Oates.pdf

Additional witnesses included:

  • Clyde McQueen, Director, Full Employment Council, Inc., Kansas City, MO
  • Michael Thurmond, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Labor, Atlanta, GA
  • Rick Bender, President, The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Seattle, WA
  • William Kiernan, Director, Institute for Community Inclusion, Boston, MA
  • Mary Sarris, Executive Director, North Shore Workforce Investment Board, Salem, MA
  • Kathy Cooper, Policy Associate, Office of Adult Literacy, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, Olympia, WA
  • Stephen Wing, Director of Workforce Initiatives, CVS Caremark, Twinsburg, OH
Read more!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009

Yesterday, Chairman George Miller (D-CA) introduced H.R. 3221, “Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009.” The eliminates the Federal Family Education Loan program and originates all new federal student loans through the Direct Loan program starting in 2010. In total, this conversion generates $87 billion in savings.

In turn, the bill provides significant funding increases for a number of programs, including:

  • Investing $40 billion to increase the annual Pell Grant maximum to $5,550 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019. Starting in 2010, the maximum will be linked to match rising costs-of-living by indexing it to the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percent;
  • Providing $9.5 billion for community colleges, with $2.5 billion in FY2011 for community college infrastructure and $7 billion (over ten years) for competitive grants to community colleges and states;
  • Providing $3 billion to bolster college access and completion support programs for students;
  • Strengthening the Perkins Loan program;
  • Keeping interest rates low on need-based – or subsidized – federal student loans by making the interest rates on these loans variable beginning in 2012. These interest rates are currently set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent in 2012;
  • Simplifying the FAFSA form;
  • Providing $1.2 billion for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions;
  • Providing $10 billion for Early Learning programs; and
  • Providing $10 billion to pay down the federal deficit.

Most importantly for community colleges, the initiative is broken down to three distinct programs:

  1. $2.5 billion in FY2011 for grants to community colleges to modernize, renovate, and repair their facilities.
  2. $6.3 billion over ten years for the Community College Challenge Grant Program, which will provide competitive grants. The first four years are geared towards community colleges and states. The remaining six years are targeted towards states.
  3. $700 million for competitive grants for national activities, including grants to develop free online training and courses.

ACCT is working with Chairman George Miller’s office to refine the legislation. The House Education and Labor Committee is expected to consider the bill next Tuesday. ACCT will provide updates as further information becomes available.

To see the full press release, visit: http://edlabor.house.gov/newsroom/2009/07/chairman-miller-introduces-leg.shtml

Read more!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

President Obama Announces Major Initiative for Community Colleges

Today, President Barack Obama visited Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan to make a “historic” announcement about community colleges.

President Obama stated, “...today I'm announcing the most significant down payment yet on reaching the goal of having the highest college graduation rate of any nation in the world. We're going to achieve this in the next 10 years. And it's called the American Graduation Initiative. It will reform and strengthen community colleges like this one from coast to coast so they get the resources that students and schools need -- and the results workers and businesses demand. Through this plan, we seek to help an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates in the next decade. Not since the passage of the original GI Bill and the work of President Truman's Commission on Higher Education -- which helped to double the number of community colleges and increase by seven-fold enrollment in those colleges -- have we taken such a historic step on behalf of community colleges in America.”

The programs in the American Graduation Initiative are comprised of four programs. The funding as proposed by the Administration is $12 billion over ten years. According to the White House’s fact sheet, the initiative will create:

  • The Community College Challenge Fund: The Challenge Fund, $9 billion over ten years, will provide competitive grants to community colleges and states to build partnerships, expand course offerings, improve remedial and adult education, to innovate and expand proven reforms, and provide support services.
  • The College Access and Completion Fund: The Completion Fund will support efforts to increase college graduation rates and close achievement gaps, including those at community colleges. The College Access and Completion Fund was proposed in the President’s FY2010 budget request at $2.5 billion over five years.
  • A Fund for Community College Facilities: President Obama is proposing a new $2.5 billion fund to catalyze $10 billion in community college facility investments that will expand the colleges’ ability to meet employer and student needs. The resources could be used to pay the interest on bonds or other debt, seed capital campaigns, or create state revolving loan funds.
  • The New Online Skills Laboratory: This program funded at $500 million over ten years will support grants to create new open-access online courses.
  • The Departments of Defense, Education, and Labor will work together to make the courses freely available through one or more community colleges and the Defense Department’s distributed learning network, explore ways to award academic credit based upon achievement rather than class hours, and rigorously evaluate the results.
  • The Administration is working with Congress to use the savings from the conversion of the Federal Family Loan Program to the Direct Loan program to support the American Graduation Initiative.

The House of Representatives and the Senate are using the budget reconciliation process to pass this bill. The House Education and Labor Committee is tentatively scheduled to markup a bill next week, which is expected to deal with the conversion and provide legislative language for the Initiative.

The Committee is expected to release its bill this week and ACCT will provide an update when we receive a draft of the bill.

To read the whole speech, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-the-American-Graduation-Initiative-in-Warren-MI/

To read the White House’s fact sheet on the initiative, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Excerpts-of-the-Presidents-remarks-in-Warren-Michigan-and-fact-sheet-on-the-American-Graduation-Initiative/



Read more!

Friday, July 10, 2009

House Subcommittee Passes Education Spending Bill

Today, the House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee passed its version of the FY2010 spending bill at $160.7 billion. The Subcommittee is providing $5.2 billion over last year’s funding level, but $52 million less than what the President requested. While each programmatic funding level was not disclosed, the Subcommittee did provide funding levels for key programs.

The bill maintains the maximum Pell Grant at $4,860; combined with the mandatory funding of $690 for the Pell Grant program, this equals a $5,550 maximum. Also, the Career and Adult Education funding is slated at $2 billion, or $72 million over FY2009. It is unclear how these funds are distributed amongst the various programs.

The Subcommittee provided $135 million for the new Career Pathways Innovation Fund (formerly called the Community-Based Job Training Grant program). The allocation for this program is $10 million more than the FY2009 total. It appears that the Departments of Labor and Education will have a role in running this program. Additionally, the Subcommittee is providing $50 million to prepare workers for careers in emerging green industries.

The next step will be for the House Appropriations Committee to consider the bill next week, with the full House considering the bill later this month. The Senate Subcommittee is expected to consider its version of the bill in the next couple of weeks.

For more information, visit: http://appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/sub_lhhse.shtml Read more!