CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Research Roundup: Student Aid and Equity in Postsecondary Education

Trends in Financial Aid: Recently, the National Center for Education Statistics published a report covering trends in student financial aid during the 2017-18 academic year. After examining financial aid data by type and source across 1,900 Title-IV-eligible institutions, researchers shared the following findings:

• Roughly 55% of students at community colleges received some type of financial aid, with the most common form being grants or loans, and were awarded $5,300, on average.
• Among community college students that received financial aid, 47% received federal aid, 24% received state aid and 6% received institutional aid.
• For students at public less-than-two-year institutions, 41% received some form of financial aid and they were awarded $5,500, on average.
• About 42% of community college students received Pell grants and 28% of students at public less-than-two-year institutions received Pell grants. ACTE supports the expansion of Pell grants to cover high-quality short-term programs so that more students at these institutions can access education and training for careers.

Analyzing Equity in Postsecondary Education: The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and the University of Pennsylvania collaborated to publish a report on equity trends in the postsecondary education system. The report reviews national and state data on equity as well as historical data on Federal TRIO programs, which are outreach and support services programs targeted at individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, with the goal of identifying policies and practices that improve overall postsecondary education attainment and equity in postsecondary outcomes.

Prospective and Current Students’ Perspectives: As postsecondary institutions seek ways to enroll and retain students, a report by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation provides helpful insights from prospective and current students. In 2021, researchers surveyed adults enrolled in an associate or bachelor’s degree program, adults with some postsecondary education who stopped out, and adults who never enrolled in postsecondary education. Some of their key findings are detailed below:

• Among adults who have never enrolled in postsecondary education, 40% have considered enrolling. In addition, 85% of those who stopped out in the past few years have considered reenrolling. For these adults, associate degrees and certificates were the top credentials of interest.
• Most enrolled students report that they are pursuing postsecondary education to obtain knowledge and skills, pursue a more fulfilling career and obtain a higher paying job.
• About 41% of associate degree students said they considered stopping out in the past six months with many citing emotional stress as a cause. However, about half report that financial aid and the value of their degree were important factors in helping them remain enrolled.

Postsecondary Education in Southern States: This May, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) published a factbook that provides a comprehensive overview of postsecondary education in the 16 SREB states. The book addresses statistics on the population and economy, enrollment, completion, affordability, faculty and administrators, and revenue and expenditures. In addition, the book includes over 100 tables of data related to these topics.

Financing Postsecondary Education: Recently, the State Higher Education Executive Officers association (SHEEO) released this year’s State Higher Education Finance Report, which gives a detailed analysis of state and local postsecondary education funding, tuition revenue and student enrollment during the 2021 fiscal year. The following are selected statistics about public two-year institutions from the report:

• Total state and local support for public institutions was $9,347 at two-year institutions, 88.6% of the amount at four-year institutions ($10,555).
• About 29 states increased state financial aid for full-time students at public two-year institutions. State aid for these students grew by 4.6%, reaching $510 per full-time student.
• Total education revenue for public two-year institutions averaged $11,928 per full-time student, which is an 8% increase from 2020.

Swiss Embassy Hosts Apprenticeship Training Panel

On June 28, the Swiss Embassy in the United States held a reception at the residence of Ambassador of Switzerland Jacques Pitteloud to highlight the Swiss, Austrian and German apprenticeship models, and discuss lessons that can be applied to the U.S. apprenticeship system.

Ambassador Pitteloud welcomed the attendees and introduced representatives of the three countries featuring their apprentices at the panel discussion. Additional welcome remarks were given by Ambassador of Austria Martin Weiss and Ambassador of Germany Emily Haber.

The companies included Buhler Aeroglide of Switzerland and North Carolina, Engel Machinery of Austria and Pennsylvania and Linde + Wiemann of Germany and Georgia. Each of the three companies’ attendees noted that they were drawn to their apprenticeship programs by a desire to obtain debt-free education and hands-on learning opportunities.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo was in attendance and discussed her support for registered apprenticeships, highlighting the ongoing challenges for American global economic competitiveness and emphasizing the availability of jobs in high-demand fields.

The event concluded with remarks from Brent Parton, Acting Assistant Secretary at the Department of Labor, on the takeaways from the event.

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor the RAISE Act!

On March 3, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced legislation that would boost compensation for all public early childhood and K-12 teachers, including those in CTE. The legislation, titled the RAISE Act, would provide refundable federal income tax credits between $1,000 and $15,000 to eligible teachers annually. The amount of the credit would be determined by a sliding scale based on the school poverty level where the teacher works. 

Specifically, the RAISE Act would:   

• Provide all eligible K-12 and early childhood teachers with a minimum $1,000 refundable tax credit, regardless of school poverty level.  
• Provide a refundable tax credit of up to $15,000 for early childhood teachers with a bachelor’s degree and all eligible K-12 teachers. 
• Provide a refundable tax credit of up to $10,000 for early childhood teachers with an associate degree or Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate.  

Additionally, the bill would invest in educator recruitment and retention programs, incentivize local education agencies to increase teacher salaries, provide labor protections to prevent the tax credit from being unfairly used in salary negotiations and increase the educator tax deduction to $500 for all early childhood and K-12 teachers.   

ACTE has officially endorsed the RAISE Act. Now, we need your assistance to help retain teachers in the profession and attract more high-quality professionals to the teacher workforce.  

ACTION NEEDED: Contact your Members of Congress to ask them to cosponsor and support the RAISE Act! 

If you have a direct contact in your Member's office, such as from a meeting with a staff member during NPS or at another time, we urge you to call or email directly. You can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your requested congressional office. Please contact your Members of Congress today!

DC Digest: June 20-26

Last week in Washington was a busy week for both Congress and CTE. The focus was on negotiating and passing gun safety legislation, school nutrition program support, subcommittee appropriations bill markups, court security funding and additional January 6 committee hearings. Congress is set to be on recess this week in advance of the July 4 holiday, which means that lawmakers have now missed a self-imposed deadline of July 4 for completing negotiations on the bipartisan, bicameral America COMPETES Act/USICA. As we await new details, here are some key developments:

• Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations Subcommittee Markup: On June 22, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies released the first draft of its fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill. While a full, detailed funding table has not yet been released, according to the committee’s initial summary, the legislation proposes a $45 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program. Read more about the legislation and markup here.

• Reps. Thompson, Kilmer Introduce Bill to Expand Career Counseling for Adult Learners: On June 23, Reps. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA) introduced legislation to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to allow for additional career guidance for adult learners through public outreach, including Public Service Announcements (PSAs), social media campaigns, job fairs and other measures to educate the public about workforce development programs. ACTE has endorsed this legislation, and ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Wilson was quoted in the accompanying press release.

• Department of Education Hosts Career Pathways Summit: To promote the Department’s Career Connected High Schools initiative proposed as a part of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget request, the Department of Education held a webinar on June 21 to discuss best practices for creating and supporting effective career and college pathways and reaching more learners. Speakers at the event included community college representatives, employers, school districts, workforce boards and community organizations.

• Department of Labor Hosts Good Jobs Summit: On June 21, the Department of Labor (DOL) in collaboration with the Families and Workers Fund held a summit focused on improving job quality and access to good jobs. Speakers represented federal agencies, Congress, state and local government and the workforce. Read more about the event here.

• New Education Funding in Gun Safety Bill: On June 25, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law. The legislation contains several new education investments designed to support the mental health and wellbeing of students in addition to gun safety provisions. Read more about the bill here.

• Department of Education Releases Proposed Changes to Title IX Regulations, Seeks Comment: The Department of Education has released for public comment proposed amendments to Title IX regulations, including requiring that all students receive appropriate support, strengthening protections for LGBTQI+ students who face discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and requiring that school procedures for complaints of sex discrimination, including sexual violence and other sex-based harassment, are fairly addressed. Read more from Inside Higher Education and the Department of Education’s press release, where additional information and fact sheets can be found.

• Department of Labor Awards Grants to Provide Job Training and Employment Services to Justice-involved Youth: The Department of Labor has announced awards to organizations in Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin to support paid work experiences for young people affected by community violence. The funding supports skills training and employment and mentorship services. Read more about the awards here.

New Education Investments in Bipartisan Gun Safety Legislation

On June 25, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law. The legislation contains several new education investments designed to support the mental health and wellbeing of students in addition to higher-profile gun safety provisions.

The bill’s education-related funding includes:

• $1 billion for states through ESSA Title IV-A, the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program
• $500 million for competitive grants through the School-Based Mental Health Services (SBMHS) Grant Program
• $50 million for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program

Read more about the legislation here.

In addition, President Biden signed into law the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022, which extends flexibilities for child nutrition programs and provides temporary increases in reimbursement rates for school meals and meals provided at child care centers.

Department of Labor Hosts Summit on Good Jobs

On June 21, the Department of Labor (DOL) in collaboration with the Families and Workers Fund held a summit focused on improving job quality and access to good jobs. Speakers represented federal agencies, Congress, state and local government and the workforce.

To start off the Summit, Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su introduced the DOL and Department of Commerce’s Good Jobs initiative, which aims to improve job quality by engaging employers, strengthening workforce pathways and creating partnerships. As a part of this initiative, the DOL identified eight principles of a good job related to the following topics:

• Recruitment and hiring
• Benefits
• Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility
• Empowerment and representation
• Job security and working conditions
• Organizational culture
• Pay
• Skills and career advancement

Following Deputy Secretary Su, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh highlighted the importance of workforce pathways; Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg explained how transit employers are using federal grants to provide high-quality workforce training; and Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk shared how the Department of Energy is prioritizing funding for employers that provide evidence of how they’ll create good jobs.

On the local and regional levels, Kathleen Culhane of Nontraditional Employment for Women, a New York City organization that prepares women for skilled trades careers, discussed how her organization partnered with the North America’s Building Trades Unions to offer child care services for women in apprenticeships. Speakers from Portland, Oregon, highlighted the Regional Workforce Equity Agreement, which jurisdictions can sign to hold contractors accountable for creating an equitable and safe work environment for people of color and women. So far, eight jurisdictions have signed on.

Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) served as another keynote speaker at the Summit and discussed the importance of the COMPETES Act, specifically how its passage could create one million additional registered apprenticeships and expand Pell Grants to cover short-term job training. ACTE supports expanding Pell grant access to high-quality short-term education programs as they can help Americans earn credentials and enter the workforce in high-wage, in-demand industries like manufacturing, health care and transportation.

You can view the recording of the summit here and view the Summit’s agenda here.

House Appropriators Release FY23 Education Funding Bill

On Wednesday, June 22, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies released the first draft of its fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill, which includes funding for the Department of Education and the Department of Labor. While a full, detailed funding table has not yet been released, according to the committee’s initial summary, the legislation proposes a $45 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program – a year-over-year increase equal to what was enacted in FY 2022.  Overall, the bill provides a 15% increase to the Department of Education and a 12% increase to the Department of Labor.  

Encouragingly, this bill provides more funding to the Perkins Basic State Grant program than was requested by the President. However, at a time of record inflation and a growing skills gap in areas such as healthcare and infrastructure, this proposal does not currently provide enough funding to meet the needs of CTE programs and learners. ACTE and Advance CTE have requested that Congress increase Perkins funding by $200M and will continue to work with partners on Capitol Hill to fight for the largest investment possible.  

In addition to Perkins funding, the bill proposes substantial investments across the education spectrum, including:  

Primary & Secondary Education 

• 17% increase for Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Title I state grants to local education agencies 
• 123% increase for Teacher Quality Partnership Grants 
• 6% increase for ESSA Title IV-A Student Support and Academic Enrichment state grants 
• 20% increase for magnet school programs 
• $1 billion for grants to increase access to school-based mental health professionals 

Postsecondary Education & Workforce 

• 100% increase for Strengthening Community College Training Grants 
• 8% increase for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State Grants 
• 29% increase for Apprenticeship Expansion Grants 
• 5% increase for Adult Education 
• $500 increase to the maximum Pell Grant award 

The subcommittee marked up the bill on Thursday, June 23, advancing it for consideration by the full House Appropriations Committee scheduled for the morning of June 30. We will continue to update you as the bill is updated and inches closer toward passage. If you have any questions, please contact ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Zach Curtis (zcurtis@acteonline.org).  

DC Digest: June 13-19

Last week in Washington, lawmakers focused on negotiations surrounding gun safety legislation, economic issues, holding additional January 6 committee hearings, approving pending nominations and marking up the first of several Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations bills. Both chambers will be in town this week following the Juneteenth federal holiday, and we expect that the FY 2023 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill will be marked up by the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations subcommittee on June 23. ACTE is also continuing to monitor the negotiations on America COMPETES/USICA. As we await more action, here is the latest from Washington:

• Secretary of Labor Testifies to House and Senate Committees on FY23 DOL Budget Request: On June 14 and 15, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh testified before the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee, respectively, to discuss the Department of Labor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget request for the Department of Labor. Both hearings included discussion of registered apprenticeship programs and other workforce development issues. Read more about the hearings here.

• America COMPETES/USICA Update: According to a report from Punchbowl News, the conference committee negotiators for America COMPETES/USICA are still working toward a July 4 deadline to complete the process of resolving differences in the House and Senate versions of the legislation. Several provisions may be cut from the bill to expedite passage of the bill prior to the November midterm elections, making it crucial that ACTE members in several key states weigh in with their Members of Congress to urge them to include ACTE priorities in the bill.

• Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Funding: The Department of Labor has announced $201,798,000 in funding to provide training and employment services through the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers Program in 45 states and Puerto Rico to eligible workers affected adversely by foreign trade.
• Administration Announces Talent Pipeline Challenge: On June 17, the Administration launched a Talent Pipeline Challenge to encourage employers, education and training providers, government leaders, philanthropic organizations, and other stakeholders to make tangible commitments that support equitable workforce development in critical infrastructure sectors.

• White House Issues New Executive Order on LGBTQI+ Equality: In an Executive Order released on June 15, the President directed the Secretary of Education to use his agency’s authority to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) students and promote promising polices and practices to support their safety, well-being and rights. The potential impact on education is described in this Education Week article.

Research Roundup: The Pandemic’s Impact on Education and Connecting Students to Supports

COVID-19 and CTE Perspectives: This March, EdChoice conducted a national survey of high school students and their parents to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted their views on post-high school plans and learning experiences. The following highlight the survey’s CTE-related findings:

• Since the pandemic started, the number of students planning on attending an in-state technical school increased from 3% to 6%.
• More than half of parents and students agreed that learning skills for future employment is the main purpose of high school education.
• Roughly 20% of parents stated that CTE is the most important subject for their child to learn before graduating high school.
• About 40% of students and 64% of parents say that apprenticeships would be useful right now.

K-12 Pandemic Learning: The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently published a report that discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted K-12 learning during the 2020-21 school year. Researchers surveyed teachers and parents to uncover the following findings about learning obstacles and strategies to prevent learning loss:

• Virtual and hybrid learning teachers were about 21 percentage points more likely than in-person teacher to state that their students had more difficulty learning than a typical school year.
• Nearly 75% of all teachers had more disengaged students than a typical school year, with high school teachers and virtual teachers experiencing higher levels of disengagement.
• Teachers that used live in-person instruction were significantly more likely to say it improved academic progress for at least half their students than teachers that used live virtual instruction or asynchronous instruction.

Relatedly, the Institute of Education Sciences released new data for the School Pulse Panel, a study that surveys K-12 public schools each month to assess the impact of the pandemic on a variety of topics. Detailed below, the latest survey findings from March and April touched on mental health, staff concerns and updates to school health policies:

• K-12 staffs’ top concerns included getting their students to meet the school year’s academic standards, a shortage of substitute teachers, and students’ social, emotional and mental health.
• About 70% of schools said that the percentage of students seeking mental health services has increased since the start of COVID-19 and 29% of schools reported the same for K-12 staff.
• In April, 30% of schools needed to quarantine one or more students due to COVID-19 exposure, symptoms or a positive test, which is a 64 percentage point decrease since January.

Postsecondary Pandemic Impacts: Recently, the Federal Reserve Bank released its annual Economic Well-being of Households report, which contains survey findings about adults’ financial challenges and opportunities related to employment, education and income. This year’s report included the following findings related to postsecondary education, the workforce and the COVID-19 pandemic:

• While K-12 schools largely returned to in-person instruction, more than 75% of postsecondary students said their classes were partly or completely virtual.
• Technical college and associate degree students prefer virtual education more than bachelor’s degree students, likely due to a greater adult population who may have other responsibilities.
• Around 31% of those with some postsecondary education said the benefits from their education exceeded the cost compared to 46% of associate degree and 67% of bachelor’s degree holders.
• Although the percentage of adults aged 25 to 54 that are not working increased, adults who said they were not working because they couldn’t find work returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Supporting Community College Students: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt students’ academic and personal lives, the Hope Center published a study that demonstrates how community colleges can raise awareness of support services. Throughout the 2020-21 academic year, researchers sent two types of text messages to Dallas College students: one offering information about resources and another offering both information and language to reduce stigma. The information-only texts increased emergency aid applications by five percentage points and outreach to college navigators by one percentage point. In contrast, the texts reducing stigma were successful at empowering students but did not increase support-seeking behaviors.

Secretary of Labor Testifies to House and Senate Committees on FY23 DOL Budget Request

On June 14 and 15, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh testified before the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee, respectively, to discuss the Department of Labor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget request for the Department of Labor. Both hearings included discussion of registered apprenticeship programs. 

Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) discussed the bipartisan signing of Perkins V into law in 2018 and called for updates to the registered apprenticeship system. 

“As you know, apprenticeships can help states fill open jobs, but the 85-year-old registered apprenticeship system needs to be updated to provide employers more flexibility,” said Thompson.  

Sec. Walsh responded that the Department of Labor is seeking to expand the Department’s apprenticeship initiatives to include more industries and is leaning on the Department's advisory board on apprenticeship for recommendations, which includes community colleges, workforce development boards, businesses and labor organizations. 

Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) pointed to employer partnerships with community colleges as critical to training workers to meet local workforce needs. 

“What we have seen here in the Lehigh Valley is that the community colleges can quickly pivot to design programs to meet the needs of employers, manufacturers, and the like, and it happens on a regular basis,” said Wild. “But, of course, community colleges need funding so that they can develop those partnerships that you spoke of.” 

Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) inquired whether the Department of Labor has partnerships with HBCUs or MSIs to recruit and host registered apprenticeship programs. 

Sec. Walsh added, “The budget request that we're asking for here is $303 million for registered apprenticeships. And quite honestly, it's to expand, modernize, and diversify registered apprenticeships by investing in high quality youth and pre-apprenticeship programs, historically Black colleges, community colleges, organizations and community workforce development boards.” 

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) discussed the Job Corps Scholars Program, which allows Job Corps-eligible youth to enroll in CTE at community colleges to learn in-demand job skills. 

During the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sec. Walsh was asked by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) about ensuring additional agencies can get involved in registered apprenticeships. Walsh mentioned the German pre-apprenticeship model as an effective solution to involve automobile manufacturers in the apprenticeship pipeline and mentioned the Department’s Good Jobs Initiative. 

You can watch the full House committee hearing here and the full Senate committee hearing here.