#pell-grants

#pell-grants

The four-year college degree no longer has the same pull it once did - and the Trump administration agrees. The Department of Education concluded its negotiations on the Workforce Pell program on December 12, a new initiative included in President Donald Trump's "big beautiful" spending legislation. The program would extend Pell grants to low-income borrowers in short-term certification programs, with the intention of providing more funding for alternative paths to a four-year college degree or trade school.

The government ran out of money to pay its bills on October 1 after Democratic and Republican lawmakers failed to reach a funding agreement. This means that each federal agency's shutdown contingency plans, which include furloughing thousands of federal employees, closing national parks, and delaying grant disbursements, are now being rolled out. For the Department of Education, the shutdown will slow down the work of an already stripped-down agency.