With one day before the House goes into recess, Members of Congress were busy this week passing and introducing legislation! Read below for a Perkins reauthorization update and news about a proposal to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). To make sure you get the latest news and resources about federal policy that impacts Career Technical Education (CTE), sign up for our Legislative Updates!
Perkins Reauthorization Heads to the President’s Desk
Today, the House passed the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, H.R. 2353, as amended by the Senate, on an unanimous voice vote. This is the bill that will reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins). A total of 16 Members of Congress from both parties spoke in favor of the bill, many noting the importance of Career Technical Education (CTE) in helping to close the skills gap and the significant role CTE plays for employers in their districts.
Advance CTE and ACTE released a joint press statement on the bill’s passage. We anticipate that the President will sign the bill into law in the near future. Advance CTE and ACTE will be updating the summary and analysis of the bill to reflect changes that have been made to the bill between the Senate markup of the bill on June 26 and the bill’s passage. Find all of Advance CTE’s Perkins resources on our website.
House Democrats Release Details on the Aim Higher Act to Reauthorize HEA
On July 24, the 17 Democrats on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce released details on the the Aim Higher Act, which would reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). The summary, fact sheet, and additional materials from Committee Democrats can be found here. According to the summary, the bill:

• “Makes college more affordable today – by investing in federal student aid –  and helps states make public college tuition more affordable in the future – by incentivizing states to reinvest in higher education,
• Cracks down on predatory for-profit institutions that target students and veterans with expensive, low-quality programs,
• Protects and expands the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which is eliminated in the GOP PROSPER Act, and makes student loans simpler and easier to repay,
• Provides students the tools they need to graduate on time with a quality degree,
• Invests in teachers and strengthens training for teachers and school leaders to improve the quality of our schools.”

This proposal comes as a response to the H.R. 4508, the PROSPER Act, which was the Republican HEA reauthorization proposal that passed out of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on a party-line vote on December 12, 2017, as we reported. Advance CTE will provide additional analysis as soon as possible and you can find resources and Advance CTE’s recommendations for the reauthorization of HEA on our website.

Kathryn Zekus, Senior Associate, Federal Policy