State Policy
The Governor of Iowa gave the Condition of the State on Tuesday, January 13, outlining the office’s priorities for the 2026 legislative session and proposed budget for FY 2027. Some of the proposed changes impacting community colleges include an increase of 1.5% to state general aid, a $1 million cut to Adult Education, and potential changes to SAVE funds. For more details, information about other proposed changes, and to receive weekly legislative updates, make sure you’re signed up for Quorum.
Federal Update
AHEAD Rulemaking Committee agrees on accountability regulations
This past Friday, January 9th, the Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) negotiated-rulemaking committee completed their second round of negotiations, reaching consensus on draft regulations that would implement a new accountability structure for nearly all Title IV- eligible programs. This means that when the U.S. Education Department issues the Notice of Proposed Action, they must use this version of the draft regulations.
An important inclusion in the draft was the implementation of the new accountability framework enacted in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, which ties Direct Loan eligibility for degree and graduate certificate programs to defined earnings benchmarks. At a high-level, the framework requires undergraduate degree programs to lead to wages that are greater than those of high school graduates ages 25-34 in the state where the institution is located. The regulations also modify existing Gainful Employment (GE)/Financial Value Transparency regulations to align with this framework. Meaning GE and eligible non-GE programs will now also be measured on whether program completers’ median earnings are equal to or exceed median earnings of high school graduates.
Programs that fail to meet the earnings premium measure in two out of three consecutive years, for the most part, would only lose eligibility for the Direct Loan Program, while remaining eligible for other Title IV programs like Pell grants. This limitation of consequence was a large part of the negotiations and appeared like it might threaten the committee’s chances of reaching a consensus but was ultimately included.