Join Congressional Dear Colleague Letters for Student Aid and Workforce Funding
Each spring, members of Congress can sign public letters to the Appropriations Committee supporting programmatic requests for key national programs (separate from earmarks). Community college advocates are requesting that their members of Congress sign these letters when they circulate again in FY27, and submit each program with a high priority in the internal Appropriations Committee submission database. Congressional offices may click the internal Quill links to view the FY27 letters and sign on.
Pell Grants, Federal Work Study (FWS), and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG)
Pell Grants, FWS, and SEOG Republican letter: Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) led 26 Republicans on the FY26 letter urging robust funding. Staff contact: Tara Snowden
Pell Grants: Reps. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) led 126 representatives on the FY26 letter urging doubling the maximum Pell Grant. Staff contact: Raisa Majid. FY27 letter and details (Deadline March 19)
Pell Grants: Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led 44 senators on the FY26 letter urging progress toward doubling Pell. Contacts: Ben Strand (Hirono) and Moira Lenehan (Reed)
SEOG and FWS: Rep. Joe Morelle (D-PA) led 98 Democrats on the FY26 letter supporting inflation-adjusted levels of $966.3 million for SEOG; $1.31 billion for FWS. Staff contact: Jordan Jablonski. (FY27 Quill sign-on link)
SEOG and FWS: Senators Merkley (D-OR) and Hirono (D-HI) led 27 senators on the FY26 letter supporting inflation-adjusted levels of $966.3 million for SEOG and $1.31 billion for FWS. Contact: Becca Damante (Merkley)
Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE)
Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) led 88 representatives (14 Republicans and 74 Democrats) on the FY26 letter supporting an increase. Contact: Faith Tuttle. FY27 Quill link – Deadline March 17
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led 40 senators on the FY26 letter supporting an increase Contact: Brian Steele (Blumenthal)
Adult Basic Education (ABE)
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) led 25 Democrats on the FY26 letter supporting an increase to $810 million. Contact: Jesse Rodriguez
Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Todd Young (R-IN) led 31 senators on the FY26 letter supporting an increase to $810 million. Staff contact: Moira Lenehan (Reed)
Apprenticeships, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Formula and National Employment and Training, Adult Education and Literacy, Wagner/Peyser Employment Services, Dislocated Worker National Reserve, Vocational Rehabilitation, Workforce Data Quality Initiative Grant, Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations, Sector Partnerships, and Career and Support Services.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) led 89 representatives including Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) on the FY26 letter supporting an increase. Contact: Allie Pearce
Senator Blumenthal (D-CT) led 38 senators on the FY26 letter supporting similar increases. Contact: Brian Steele (Blumenthal)
Postsecondary Student Success Grants (PSSG)
Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), and Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) led 22 representatives on the FY26 letter supporting level or expanded funding. Contact: Gabriel Pena. FY27 Quill link. Deadline March 18
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) led 11 senators on the FY26 letter supporting $100 million. Contact: Elizabeth Hill.
Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Program (Basic Needs Grants)
Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) led 35 representatives on the FY26 letter supporting $45 million. Contact: Royce Chen
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) led 40 senators on the FY26 letter supporting $45 million. Contact: Adrienne Epstein
Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS)
Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) led 28 senators on the FY26 letter for robust funding. Contact: Ben Rhodeside
TRIO Programs (Upward Bound, Student Support Services, Talent Search, etc.)
Reps. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Chris Smith (R-NJ) led 209 (189 Democrats and 40 Republicans) on the FY26 letter supporting robust funding. Contact: Anna Whitwam
Senators Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) led 46 senators (39 Democrats and 5 Republicans) on the FY26 letter urging robust funding. Contacts: Annette Christie (Warnock) and Ron Anderson (Cassidy)
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)
Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA) led 44 Democrats on the letter requesting $410 million. Contact: Shannon Lynch
Senators Jack Reed (DRI) and John Cornyn (R-TX) led 37 senators (33 Democrats and 4 Republicans) on the FY26 letter supporting GEAR UP. Contact: Moira Lenehan (Reed) and Anna Wilson (Cornyn)
Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTIs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNHSIs),
All Programs Above: Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) led 19 senators on the FY26 letter supporting increases to each of the programs above. Contact: Ben Strand (Hirono)
HSIs: Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) is leading a HSI funding letter requesting $250 million for Higher Education Act (HEA) Title V, Part A and other increases across multiple programs. Contact: Julian Garcia.
HBCUs: Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) led 40 representatives on the FY26 letter requesting $500 million for Strengthening HBCUs Undergraduate Program and multiple other programs. Contact: Ruben Cedillo
PBIs: Reps. Danny Davis, Yvette Clarke, Jonathan Jackson, and Robin Kelly led 33 members on the FY26 letter for PBIs. FY27 Quill link (Contact Jill Hunter-Williams)
AANAPISIs: Reps. Jimmy Gomez and Mark Takano led 53 members on the FY26 letter for AANAPISIs. The FY27 letter requests at least $30 million. Contact: Sophia Cho. FY27 Quill link.
TCUs: Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Sharice Davids (D-KS) led 12 representatives (3 Republicans and 9 Democrats) on the FY26 letter supporting strong funding for TCUs in Interior Appropriations. Contact: Sydney Powers
International Education and Foreign Language Studies (Higher Education Act Title VI and Fulbright-Hays)
Rep. Deborah Ross (D-OR) led 89 representatives on the FY26 letter requesting $91 million ($80 million for Title VI and $11 million for Fulbright-Hays). Contact: Bardia Asefnia
Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Todd Young (R-IN) led 22 senators on the FY26 letter supporting robust funding. Contact: Gabrielle Schechter (Schatz) and Burke Miller (Young)
Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants (SCCTG)
- Reps. Lucy McBath (D-GA) and Carol Miller (R-WV) are leading a new letter supporting robust funding for SCCTG. Contact: Matthew Golden (McBath).