Now that the August recess period for members of congress has ended, September is expected to be characterized by strenuous efforts in both chambers to produce 12 appropriation bills for the next fiscal year that begins on October 1, 2023. Although no legislation has been passed yet in the Senate, the Appropriations Committee was able to complete work on all 12 annual spending bills, where they received bipartisan support. Over in the House, the Military Spending-Veterans Affairs bill passed, but it is expected that progress on the other 11 appropriation bills will be significantly more challenging to achieve. An expectation is that agreement may be reached by the two chambers to have a continuing resolution go into effect that will allow funding to continue until the end of this calendar year at FY 2023 spending levels.
On a separate related note, the Federal Pell Grant program, authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA), is the single largest source of federal grant aid supporting postsecondary education students. Congress and stakeholders in the higher education and workforce training communities for several years have promoted the possibility of expanding these grants to students enrolled in short-term programs that do not meet the minimum durational requirements in current law. A possible expansion would be intended to provide prospective students with more educational and career options and employers with more skilled applicants. Concerns about a possible expansion generally are related to historical fraud perpetrated by providers of short-term programs and inconsistent employment returns for short-term offerings.
According to a report issued on August 24 of this year by the Congressional Research Service, generally, undergraduate degree programs and certificate programs of at least 600 clock hours of instruction (or the equivalent) offered over a minimum of at least 15 weeks are eligible. Title IV-participating institutions of higher education must be authorized to operate a postsecondary educational program by the state in which they are located, approved by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, and certified by the Department. As of August 2023, three major bills have been introduced in the 118th Congress to expand Pell Grants to short-term programs:
· Promoting Employment and Lifelong Learning Act (PELL Act; H.R. 496).
· Jobs to Compete Act (H.R. 1655).
· Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students Act (JOBS Act; S. 161) and its companion, the JOBS Act of 2023 (H.R. 793).
The bills share several provisions. Short-term programs would be defined as educational offerings providing 150-599 clock hours of instruction offered over 8-14 weeks. The programs would have to be in in-demand industries. Student eligibility would be expanded to otherwise Pell-eligible students who have received a bachelor’s degree, but not a postbaccalaureate degree.