At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) questioned Education Secretary Linda McMahon about short-term pell grants.
00:00Thank you, Madam Chairman, and thank you, Madam Secretary, for being here, and I applaud you for your courage to make changes and the efficiency that is so needed that you're addressing that.
00:13You know, we've talked a lot about Pell Grants for short-term courses, and I got here in 2018, we were talking about it then, we continue to talk about it today.
00:22Can you just kind of expand a timeline of what you're looking at for allowing the Pell Grants or getting us to the position that Pell Grants can cover short-term courses?
00:36Well, we'd like to do that, you know, right away, and I think as we're looking, you know, in the new budget, we'd like to see those short-term Pell Grants be part of that budget.
00:46Because I do think that that is one of the best ways that we can get students into the economy and working right away.
00:56We had a little brief conversation about that before you joined, and it's one of the things that I've talked about for a long time.
01:02Since back 2009 and 2010, when I actually ran for the Senate in Connecticut, I was talking about those same things, that we needed a skilled workforce in our country because we are not fulfilling those needs and those requirements.
01:16And short-term Pell Grants will actually get people into the marketplace quicker.
01:22They're cheaper.
01:23They can be, you know, we're hoping they could be six to eight weeks.
01:27It's not the full term of a community college, and we can get them earning a living.
01:32So you're hopeful within the next one to two years?
01:36Oh.
01:37Do you think that's a practical time frame?
01:39I would hope it would be before that.
01:40Great.
01:41That's what I'm hoping for as well.
01:44And hoping, you know, working with Congress to make sure that that happens.
01:47Yeah.
01:47And we've always talked about administration's wish for workforce-aligned, apprenticeship-focused learning as well.
01:54And that is just so aligned with career and technical education training.
01:59That's so important in my state, and I know many states.
02:02But the initiatives happening in Mississippi, this is really important.
02:07And we're thrilled that, as Senator Britt was talking about Alabama, we had the Mississippi miracle that, you know, we were 49th at one time in fourth grade reading.
02:16We're in the top 20 now.
02:17So it just shows that if you're intentional about something, you can accomplish it.
02:21And you did it at the state level without the interference.
02:24Exactly.
02:24Of the federal government.
02:25We did it at the state level because we were intentional about doing it.
02:29But as such, career and technical grants are especially important to me and my constituents.
02:34Please provide us the details about the Department of Education's proposed FY26 budget for these career and technical programs.
02:43Well, really, you know, we're looking very much across all states.
02:50And we're level funding CTE.
02:54It's not being reduced, you know, in the current 26 budget.
02:56And I think, you know, it's really, the president has charged us to work with commerce and labor and all the different departments.
03:04We have about 43 different workforce development programs across government, and it's incredibly inefficient.
03:10So we would like to narrow that scope and work with different departments and find out exactly what we can do.
03:18And I think, you know, Senator, you referenced about going with the Department of Labor.
03:26Those are conversations that are being held because can we be more efficient working across different departments?
03:32And that's what we really want to do and what we want to accomplish.
03:36And let's go, let's talk about EIR grants, the education, innovation, and research grants that are critical for boosting achievements in these high-need students.
03:47But Mississippi has received no grants from 2021 to 2024, despite the state-facing challenges of medium incomes, low-medium incomes,
04:00high-rules student enrollment, and the teacher shortage that we're facing.
04:04In fact, no EIR grants were awarded to nearly two-thirds of the states represented by Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
04:14But California, New York, and Massachusetts awarded 49 separate EIR grants, totaling more than $300 million.
04:22But I just feel it's important to note that there are no limits on indirect costs imposed by these grants.
04:30And do you agree that the EIR funds need to be reformed to optimize their program's impact so that direct resources are sent to the areas of greatest need?
04:42Yeah, I'd like to work with you and get back to you on that.
04:44I'm not familiar specifically with what happened in Mississippi, but I would like to get back to you and work with you on that program.
04:51Yeah, we know a specific that applied that – so it's not like we're not applying.
04:55We're definitely applying.
04:56Right.
04:57But –
04:57In the competitive grant process.
04:59Correct.
05:00But zero, absolutely zero of that.
05:03Okay, I'm out of my time, but thank you for everything you're doing.
05:09Senator Murphy.
05:10Thank you, Madam Chairman.
05:11Thank you to both of you for being here today.
05:14A few years ago, we worked really hard across the aisle to –
