Higher Learning Advocates Asks for FY 2024 Investments in Child Care, Higher Ed, Campus Mental Health Programs
Higher Learning Advocates submitted a letter outlining our support for key issues as the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education begins the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations process.
HLA expressed our support for investments in crucial child care, higher education, and campus mental health programs. Specifically, we urged the inclusion of an increase to the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) program, $20 million for the Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant to address growing campus suicide prevention and mental health needs, and language to support the funding of the Path to College Act. We also asked the subcommittees to provide sufficient funding that would allow the maximum Pell Grant to move closer to the trajectory of doubling the grant to $13,000, a $7.7 billion increase to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), an increase to the Basic Needs and Completion Fund grants, a permanent Emergency Aid grant, additional funding to the Affordable Connectivity Program, and an increase the Open Textbooks Pilot (OTP) program to $14 million.
As the focus on growing and maintaining a competitive American economy increases, we asked Congress to continue to invest in key supports to ensure access to and attainment of postsecondary credentials for today’s students. These investments are critical to advance policies to encourage a system of higher learning that is affordable and responsive to the needs of today’s students. Investing in higher education is investing in our economy.