During the opening day of the 2026 Community College National Legislative Summit, the Trump Administration's top postsecondary official outlined what he called a “sea change” in the higher education landscape.
“As an administration… we think about how we can implement policy and put resources behind other well-respected and outcome-driven programs and institutions, and I think community colleges are certainly one of those choices,” Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said during Monday’s opening keynote session.
Kent highlighted the policy deliberations shaping the Workforce Pell program slated to begin July 1, new accountability provisions, and changes to the federal student loan program, along with several interagency agreements that are shifting programs from the U.S. Department of Education to other federal agencies.
“The president ran on this promise to return education back to the states,” Kent said. “We are always receptive to how we can be doing it better, and that is something that we take very seriously, but this project is something that is going to be moving forward under this administration.”
The nearly 1,200 community college leaders — including more than 115 students — attending the 2026 NLS celebrated key victories in the past year, including the passage of Workforce Pell after a decade of advocacy, and prepared for new challenges to come. “A very long list of changes have happened since we last came together in Washington,” ACCT Chair Carol Del Carlo of the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents told attendees.
NLS attendees were urged to approach the rapid changes impacting the sector with what ACCT Vice President for Public Policy Carrie Warick-Smith called “a unified front.”
“There are a lot of issues we’re facing right now and we’ve got a complicated political context, but we really want to drive home the message that federal investment in our colleges matter, and all our colleges have a role as economic engines in their communities and their regions,” Warick-Smith said during the annual review of federal legislative priorities.
ACCT President & CEO Jee Hang Lee stressed the importance of continued advocacy in “this increasingly competitive higher education sector.”
“Many of you know how long the road can be for legislative victories like Workforce Pell,” Lee said. “The process can be long and tedious, but [it] will provide opportunities for thousands of our students who otherwise would would not have them.”
“Community colleges are not an afterthought,” said American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) President & CEO DeRionne Pollard. “We are the front door to opportunity in America. I’m proud of the mission we have, and the power and audacity to carry forth every day.”
Also Monday, attendees heard from a roundtable of higher ed policy experts, including Amanda Fuchs Miller, president of Seventh Street Strategies, Jared C. Bass, senior vice president of education of the Center for American Progress, Preston Cooper, senior fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, Kristin Hultquist, founding partner of HCM Strategists, and moderator Katherine Knott of Inside Higher Education. Community college leaders also were briefed by Manu Raju, CNN senior congressional correspondent, while Nick Moore, the Education Department’s deputy assistant secretary for career and technical education, spoke with community college students during the annual student advocacy workshop.
Programming Notes — Feb. 10 and 11
The NLS continues Tuesday with a keynote address at the Marriott Marquis Washington by Henry Mack, the U.S. Department of Labor assistant secretary of labor, employment and training administration, the annual Community College Congressional Forum on Capitol Hill featuring addresses by Congressman Alma Adams (N.C.-12), Congressman Burgess Owens (Utah-4), Congresswoman Young Kim (Calif.-40), Congressman Jimmy Panetta (Calif.-19), Congressman Dan Newhouse (Wash.-04), Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (Conn.-05), Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (Va.-03), Congressman Mark Takano (Calif.-39). (National Legislative Summit Participants should refer to the event app for the most up-to-date speaking roster as well as important instructions for accessing the U.S. Capitol.) Tuesday's programming will conclude with the the Capital Awards and Entertainment Banquet, during which Senator Bill Cassidy (La.) will be honored with the 2026 Community College National Education Service Award. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (Ore.-01) and Congressman Juan Ciscomani (Ariz.-06) will give closing keynote addresses on Wednesday morning at the Marquis.
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