Community College Journal - February/March 2011

tax policy

The tax code remains an extremely important aspect of community college student financing. Ensuring that higher education tax provisions are reasonably generous, targeted, and set within a logical program structure remains a top AACC priority. The last Congress devoted substantial effort to higher education tax issues, and the 112th Congress is also expected to wrestle with them. The massive package of tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits enacted as the 111th Congress drew to a close included key benefits for community college students. Most important, the legislation extended for two years the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC). In tax year 2009, AOTC provided $14.4 billion to some 8. 3 million college students. AOTC provides up to $2,500 for four years of college. The credit’s basic eligibility formula works well for students attending low-tuition institutions; it covers course materials as opposed to just tuition and fees, as under the Hope Scholarship (a long-standing AACC priority); and it is 40 percent refundable, which helps deliver aid to the neediest students.

Closing achievement gaps Community colleges are engaged in a variety of activities to elevate the achievement of low-income and minority students. Among them: Achieving the Dream: Community College Count. But the federal government has an essential role to play as well, and established programs can do much to effect positive change. Among the most important initiatives supporting community colleges are TRIO, the five-part discretionary grant program supporting postsecondary education; GEAR UP, a series of six-year grants to promote early college preparation; and Hispanic-Serving Institutions, a competitive grant program that currently receives more than $117 million in appropriations. Another grant serving Predominantly Black Institutions is currently at work in 21 colleges, most of them community colleges.

Federal Role in Higher ed Federal intervention into the academic affairs of institutions would not be welcome, and it is a role from which the U.S. Department of Education is statutorily barred. But there have been calls to ensure that the federal government plays a more active and effective role in ensuring better outcomes from the system, particularly in the areas of accreditation, completion, and career placement. AACC’s own Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA) project may also influence the discussion in this area. VFA is designed to help community colleges improve their performance and present a more accurate picture of themselves to the public, including their sponsoring agencies. The VFA project is about to be pilot-tested with 40 colleges, and if its measures gain widespread acceptance, they could be used in other performance evaluation contexts.

serving Military and veterans Building on the success of 2008’s post-9/11 GI Bill, veterans and higher education organizations successfully advocated for legislation to expand the program. The expanded legislation extends benefits to certain National Guard service personnel, provides a housing allowance to veteran students in online programs, expands the type of programs and institutions at which veterans may use their benefits, and sets a national cap for tuition and fee benefits payable to students attending private institutions. The version of the bill that passed made veterans benefits payable only after other forms of student aid are taken into account, a provision to which the higher education community objected. The legislation also increases the per-veteran payment that the Veterans Department makes to educational institutions for processing the necessary paperwork and advising students, and it allows those funds to be used for other programs supporting veterans. Increasing resources for institutions that serve significant numbers of veteran students will continue to be a top priority for AACC.

steM and ate

The need to educate more scientists, engineers, and mathematicians often ignores the role that community colleges play in this area. Forty-four percent of students who obtain a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in science and engineering attended a community college at some point in their studies. But the federal government must do more if the United States is to hold its lead in scientific and related fields. Since its inception, the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has provided 1,143 awards, totaling more than $650 million, to better prepare students for high-tech careers. AACC was heartened that the Obama administration, in its F. Y. 2011 budget, proposed a 56 percent increase to $100 million, for the ATE program by F. Y. 2013. Community colleges will need to make a strong case in the coming months for the necessity of this investment.

dReaM act

In 2010, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act experienced a level of activity and attention unprecedented in the nine years since it was introduced. Major immigration reform groups, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and others who normally favor a “ comprehensive immigration reform or nothing” approach, threw their weight behind the measure. The Obama administration was also heavily involved in pushing the bill. This heightened attention and support, and a more Democratic-dominated Congress, propelled the legislation to House passage for the first time. However, it was insufficient to surmount the Senate Republican filibuster, receiving only 55 of the 60 votes needed for cloture. Whether the 112th Congress will take up the issue this year remains to be seen.