Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray:

 

As the Senate continues to explore opportunities to make higher education more affordable and relevant for working learners, we respectfully submit the following recommendations for changes to the federal work-study program. We believe these reforms will better target the program’s resources toward the students who need it most.

 

We are a non-partisan coalition of national organizations that represent a diverse array of stakeholders in postsecondary education, including non-traditional and historically disadvantaged students, community colleges, and employers. We share a common concern that our federal higher education policies are doing too little to meet the needs of America’s diverse student population and our increasingly complex and knowledge-based economy. We have been meeting regularly for over a year, and in November of 2015 released a set of seven shared principles to guide the next reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Our principles are included as an appendix to this letter.

 

Since releasing the principles, we have met with congressional staff from both chambers and across the aisle. We have been pleased by the interest in the principles and in our coalition. Earlier this year, we decided to deepen our collaboration, moving

beyond general principles to more detailed recommendations for reform. This letter, which includes recommendations for improving the performance of the federal work-study program, is the first in what we expect to be a series of concrete reform recommendations.

 

We appreciate your consideration of our proposal,

Sincerely,

 

Achieving the Dream (ATD)

Business Roundtable

Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

Committee for Economic Development

Jobs for the Future

National Association of System Heads

National Skills Coalition

New America

Skills for America’s Future

State Higher Education Executive Officers’ Association (SHEEO)

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Young Invincible

 

See full letter and attachment here.