District Workforce Development Newsletter - December 2025
December Summary
Trivia & Entertainment
Get engaged and win big! Explore this month's newsletter and test your knowledge with our December 2025 Trivia Challenge. A $25 Amazon gift card awaits the winner, so put on your thinking cap and start reading! Follow this link to view the December 2025 Trivia Challenge (opens in new tab).
Congratulations to Rene Karn, Instruction & Classroom Support Tech at South Seattle College.
Workforce Pell Grants: Primer and Update from Negotiated Rulemaking Policy Matters
This January, Seattle Colleges is providing faculty and staff at North, Central, and South with essential updates on the Department of Education’s new AHEAD committee framework. To ensure our district remains compliant and our students maintain access to funding, we are unpacking the recent consensus on Workforce Pell and the upcoming January webinar. These federal shifts directly impact how we offer short-term credentials and measure program success across our three campuses.
Workforce Pell Grants for Short-Term Programs: A Primer and Update from Negotiated Rulemaking. We’ve developed a blog that provides a primer and overview of the first week of sessions held by the Department of Education’s Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-Driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) committee.
Negotiators reached consensus on the framework, and these draft regulations will serve as the basis for the proposed rule that will go out for public comment. From Jan. 5–9, the committee will shift to negotiating regulations on program accountability metrics. To help you unpack these sessions, UPCEA will host a webinar, “Decoding Workforce Pell and the New Program Accountability Framework: Negotiated Rulemaking Insights and Implementation Guidance,” on Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. ET, and you can register here. Read the official UPCEA blog for more information.
Additional updates include the Department of Education Launches New Institutional Earnings Indicator as Part of FAFSA. Please check out these FAQs from our partner Thompson Coburn LLP on the new indicator regarding value in higher education. Visit the UPCEA Government Affairs page to find out more.
We are also tracking the Department of Education seeks Public Comment on Third Party Servicer Data Collection; Comments Due February 27, Trump’s Higher-Ed Policy Fight - Will the administration try to strong-arm college accreditors?, and New Insights for 2025: How States Are Funding and Expanding Short-Term Credential Pathways. These resources provide an introduction to foundational topics in federal legislation and regulations, including:
- Introduction to the Online Learning Regulatory Landscape
- An Introduction to Negotiated Rulemaking for Higher Education
- Digital Accessibility Requirements for Online Learning
- Marketing Considerations Through the Lens of Regulations, Policies and Compliance
- International Policy Matters to International Program Success
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