Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has, over the past few weeks, donated another round of much-needed funding to various nonprofits and educational institutions, including two-year tribal colleges. Two weeks ago, the College of the Muscogee Nation (Oklahoma) received $8 million from Scott’s foundation, followed by a $9 million gift to Bay Mills Community College (Michigan) and $11 […]
Advocacy and Funding Articles
Rolling up the sleeves on Workforce Pell
Since Congress approved the Workforce Pell program this summer, stakeholders have been mulling how to implement it. To help inform those discussions — which are happening at the national, state and campus levels — the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and Education Design Lab, have convened an advisory group to survey the Workforce Pell […]
Preparing for Workforce Pell
Community and technical colleges are starting to prepare to implement what many of them have long advocated for: Pell Grant funding for students pursuing short-term workforce training programs, otherwise known as Workforce Pell, allowed for the first time by the federal funding bill signed into law in July. Many community college workforce development education leaders […]
Workforce Pell is finally here. What will it take to get it to work?
The higher education community didn’t find much to celebrate in Congress’s passage of the “big beautiful bill,” with one notable exception: the expansion of Pell grants to shorter-form workforce training programs. Workforce Pell has finally become law after years of advocacy, stalled negotiations in Congress and a groundswell of support from educators, employers and learners. […]
NSF funding critical in preparing students for a changing workforce
National Science Foundation (NSF) programs have provided community colleges with opportunities to equip the current and next generation of skilled workers. But proposed massive funding cuts put those vital programs at risk. A June 3 briefing on Capitol Hill focused on how NSF funding opens up community college pathways to the future of work. The […]
Commentary: Standing up against proposed higher ed cuts
For the past few months, America’s most prestigious universities have been under attack by a president intent on chastening “woke elites” and flexing his political muscle to show that not even the world’s most esteemed institutions of higher learning are beyond his control. While public attention has been focused on Ivy-leaguers like Harvard, Columbia and […]
Supporting nursing students through Random Acts of Kindness
The Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Fund is known throughout Minneapolis College for helping students meet basic needs such as one-time emergency expenses, transportation costs, food, and fees related to taking certification exams after graduation. Recognizing the importance of providing emergency grants and seeing first-hand how a financial hardship impacted some of the dedicated students […]
A new era for Iowa college’s sustainability efforts
Kirkwood Community College announced it will be decommissioning its wind turbine in the spring of 2025. The Iowa college is working with contracted services to assess the necessary steps and costs associated with deconstructing the 417-foot-tall structure, which has been a landmark on the north side of the college’s main campus for over a decade. […]
A look at how SCCT grants are working
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su on Feb. 6 provided insight into some common themes emerging among two-year colleges that have received funding through the U.S. Labor Department’s Strengthening Community Colleges Training (SCCT) Grants Program. Speaking at the Community College National Legislative Summit (NLS) in Washington, D.C., Su said she sees three threads among grantees over […]
An early look at spring enrollments
It’s still very early in the spring term, but a steady number of community colleges across the country are reporting initial enrollment increases for the new semester, potentially continuing a trend from the fall that started last spring. This fall, community colleges gained 118,000 students, a 2.6% increase – the highest growth of any sector […]