This week, Congress began its annual August recess while new developments in the presidential elections continue to shape the race. Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced that the application form for postsecondary financial aid has been delayed while the agency solicits new applications for disconnected youth initiatives. 

Lawmakers Head Back Home

After a flurry of activity over the last few weeks, lawmakers in both the House and the Senate began their annual August recess in recent days heading back to home states and districts. Just before leaving Capitol Hill for the month, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a 2025 federal fiscal year (FY25) funding measure which would, if enacted, provide a critically needed $35 million increase for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act’s (Perkins V) state grant program. The proposal largely takes a different approach than the House for FY25 and would provide larger funding allocations for ED and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) along with the various programs these agencies administer and oversee.

Despite this recent progress, both the House and Senate versions of FY25 funding legislation continue to differ significantly. With FY25 set to begin October 1 of this year, lawmakers will need to determine a pathway for federal funding beyond this date– a topic that is likely to be the priority for Congress when it returns in early September. As these efforts continue to take shape, Advance CTE will be advocating for a strong investment in Perkins V’s State Grant program as well as other critical funding streams in support of Career Technical Education (CTE) opportunities.  

Vice President Harris Taps Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as Running Mate

This week, at a rally in Philadelphia, PA, Vice President Kamala Harris formally introduced Governor Tim Walz (MN) as her running mate, joining her on the top of the Democratic Party ticket for this November’s presidential election. The announcement comes after Harris reportedly narrowed down the field of potential candidates to a group of three. 

Walz, a former teacher from a family of teachers, signed the Free School Meals for Kids bill into law which provides Minnesota public K-12 learners to have access to school-provided breakfast and lunch. During his tenure as Governor, Minnesota also approved a last-dollar financial aid assistance program for students in households making less than $80,000 to cover tuition costs at state institutions. During his time in Congress Walz primarily focused on issues related to agriculture and veterans affairs and co-sponsored a number of pieces of legislation in support of wider education and workforce development efforts. 

U.S. Department of Education Announces Release Schedule For 2025-26 FAFSA Form

After garnering feedback from stakeholders from students, families, and higher education professionals, ED announced this week a new schedule and process for the 2025-26 FAFSA Form launch. This form will be accessible, on a limited basis for testing, on October 1 with a full public release slated to be accessible to all students on or before December 1, 2024. 

Feedback has contributed to the department’s development of a new roadmap that is intended to support users with a more streamlined process and accompanying tools to help them complete the form before the following financial aid school year. More information will be shared in the coming weeks. 

Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth Application Announced

This week, ED published a preliminary glimpse at the application process for the selection of Performance Partnership Pilots for disconnected youth (P3). The notice, set to be published early next week, establishes timelines for applications according to the upcoming publish date on the Federal Register. Congress has authorized the pilot since 2014 to allow ED and other agencies to waive certain requirements to access funding streams, like Perkins V and other federal legislation, to better support disconnected youth populations. Recipients of the funds can blend them with other federal resources to better coordinate services for this population of young people, estimated to be around 4.7 million people who are neither working nor in school across the country. Applications for these funding flexibilities will be due within the next two months following the formal publication of this announcement. 

Rob Young, Communications & Advocacy Associate

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor