Gunderson on Budget: Common Ground on Pell Can Serve As “Launch Point” In Work to Directly Connect HEA to Jobs

Budget Comes on Heels of CECU’s Landmark Proposals to Modernize and Directly Connect the Higher Education Act to Jobs – New Workforce Pell Grant Among Innovative Proposals
 
May 23, 2017 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) President & CEO Steve Gunderson today commented on the Trump administration’s FY 2018 Budget. Gunderson highlighted the Pell Grant as an area for common ground with Congress and the administration as CECU works to modernize and directly connect the Higher Education Act to jobs. The budget comes one day after CECU unveiled a set of landmark proposals that the association is converting into two significant pieces of bipartisan legislation - a higher education jobs bill and a bill to modernize postsecondary education. 

“As we begin to seek common ground with the Congress and the administration on the FY18 Budget and reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, we believe the modernization of Pell Grants might be a good place to start. The president has proposed year-round Pell. The Congress protected Pell in the recent funding deal. The next step is to make sure Pell is recognized as a critical tool in supporting millions of students into good jobs,” said Gunderson. “With 46.5 million new workers needed by 2024, we must better position our higher ed laws by pursuing innovative policies like a new Workforce Pell Grant to help students learn the skills they need to succeed. Let’s build upon the commitment to modernize Pell as a launch point in our work to directly connect the Higher Education Act to jobs.”

Among the innovative ideas to directly connect the Higher Education Act to jobs, CECU proposes:

• A new Workforce Pell Grant
• A common set of outcome metrics for all schools’ career programs
• Converting the Gainful Employment rule into an informational metric for all career programs at all schools
• A revised Ability-to-Benefit program
• Connecting apprenticeship to academic credit
• Enhancing transfer of credit among schools
• Connecting Work Study to a student’s career studies
• Universal income-based repayment
• Recognition of and access to credentials
• Supporting students attending at-risk institutions
  
  

ABOUT THE EFFORT
CECU’s set of recommendations for HEA reauthorization reflect the most comprehensive proposal ever advanced by the sector. Built from the work of over 70 education specialists throughout postsecondary education, the association is advancing over 40 recommendations to improve and modernize the Higher Education Act. The primary mission is to directly link federal programs to current job skill demands. 
 
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States will need 46.5 million new workers by 2024 to fill new jobs and replace scores of retirees. 65 percent of all replacement jobs and 85 percent of all new jobs will require some level of postsecondary education. Job training leads to job growth, and training and career education is not only critical to fulfilling the nation’s workforce needs, it is key to fueling economic growth.

For more information on these proposals, please visit www.Career.org/HEA.
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