1. How is Federal Policy Helping
Student Parents?
2013 Student Parent Support Symposium
May 31, 2013
Marcie Foster, Policy Analyst

2. About CLASP
• The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) develops and
advocates for policies that improve the lives of low-income people.
• CLASP’s Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success seeks
to improve policy, increase investment, and strengthen political will
to increase the number of low-income adults and youth who earn the
postsecondary credentials essential to open doors to good jobs,
career advancement, and economic mobility.
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3. Student Parent Success Matters
• Earnings gains in the economic
recovery limited to higher-
skilled, college-educated.
• Higher-skilled less likely to be
unemployed—and remain
unemployed.
• Improved language and
reading skills among children
of higher-educated mothers.
• Poor children less likely to
enroll in college or graduate.
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4. Unmet Need
• Independent community college students have significant unmet
need:
– As high as $10,181 for full-time students.
– As high as $4,834 for part-time students.
• Unmet need may be even higher for the 43.9 percent of community
college students who do not complete the FAFSA.
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5. How is Federal Policy Helping Student Parents?
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6. Update from Washington: An Overview
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Child Care and Early Childhood Education
• Financial Aid
• Workforce Investment Act
• Immigration Reform
• Budget Outlook
• Changes to GED
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7. SNAP
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps low-income
families pay for food; amount determined by income, household size, and
expenses.
• 5-year reauthorization of Farm Bill expected this year (expires September
2013)
– Senate
• Senate Agriculture Committee passed Farm bill in May. Full Senate is
considering amendments and may vote as early as the first week of
June. Bill includes over $4 billion in cuts to SNAP.
– House
• House Agriculture Committee passed on May 14th. Expected to begin
full House consideration in June. Bill includes over $20.5 billion in
cuts to SNAP; eliminates categorical eligibility.
• Regardless of successful reauthorization, all SNAP households will see at
least a $20-25 cut in benefits in November 2013 when ARRA temporary
boost expires.
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8. TANF
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a block
grant to states; funding is spent on a broad range of activities,
including child care, early education, youth programs, EITC,
as well as cash assistance and work programs.
• Inflation has reduced TANF's real value by >30 percent since
1996.
• Cash assistance is provided to a declining number of very low-
income families with children.
• Most states operate ―work-first‖ programs, with little
opportunity for recipients to participate in education and
training activities.
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9. TANF’s Role as a
Safety Net has Declined Sharply Over Time
Source: CBPP analysis of poverty data from Current Population Survey and TANF caseload data from Health and
Human Services and (since 2006) caseload data collected by CBPP from state agencies.

10. Little Opportunity for
Education and Training
19.1%
5.0% 4.5%
2.6%
1.7% 1.1% 0.9% 0.4% 0.4% 0.3% 0.1% *
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
Percent of Families in the Participation Rate
Engaged in Activity: FY2009
Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS) based on data from the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS).
* = Less than 0.05%.

11. TANF Federal Policy Issues
• Scheduled for reauthorization in 2010.
• Has been continued through short-term extensions, most recently
through September 30, 2013
• Administration issued memo inviting waiver applications to test new
work approaches in July 2012.
– Congressional Republicans have threatened to block, but have not yet
done so.
– States have not yet submitted waivers, due to high political
scrutiny, uncertainty.
• Full reauthorization unlikely, but may be opportunity for small
changes, if Congress gets past the waiver issue.

12. TANF State Advocacy Opportunities
• At the state level, advocate
for:
– Preserving the underlying
program – states have been
shortening time limits, cutting
benefits, cutting work
supports, making it harder to
get TANF-funded support
services, cutting people off.
– Improving access to education
and training.
– Improving access to TANF-
funded supportive services.

13. Child Care: A Year in Review
• An estimated 30,000 children
will lose child care; 70,000
will lose Head Start in 2013.
• Downward trends in state
funding and policies.
– Decreased state investment.
– Passage of state policies
that have a negative impact
on children
(student/teacher
ratios, reimbursement
rates, etc.)

14. Child Care: Unmet Need
• Programs Serve Fraction of Eligible
Children
– Head Start serves 42% of eligible
preschoolers and less than 4% of
eligible infants and toddlers in Early
Head Start.
– Child care subsidies reach 1 in 6
eligible children.
Source: HS analysis by NWLC; CCDBG analysis by HHS.

15. State Trends: Child Care
• Total child care spending $12.5 billion in 2011 (state and
federal CCDBG and TANF)
• Fewer TANF funds used for child care (federal and state)
– Reduced by $500 million in 2010-2011.
• States pulling back on child care assistance policies
• State cuts to pre-kindergarten programs

16. A Year In Review: Federal Student Aid
• Pell
– Cuts from 2011 appropriations (Summer Pell, Ability to
Benefit, etc.) remain.
– Exempt from sequestration in FY13, but not in future years.
– Projected surplus for FY14 almost $4.5 billion, if FY13 surplus
carried over. Still long-term shortfall, but decreasing along with
eligible students.
• Tax Credits
– Tuition and Fees Deduction (max $4,000) extended until 2013.
– American Opportunity Tax Credit (max $2,500) extended until
2017.

17. A Year in Review: Federal Student Aid
• Student Loans
– Interest rate for subsidized student loans kept at 3.4%, will double to 6.8%
on July 1 if Congress does not act.
– Some interest (House proposal and the President’s budget) to make loan
rates variable, but such proposals do not have upper-limit cap on interest
rate.

18. Efforts to Preserve Pell Grants
• www.SavePell.org
• Pellumni Network
– Includes current and former students who received Pell Grants.
– Collecting stories about the importance of Pell Grants which will
be shared through different mediums.

19. Road to HEA Reauthorization
• House and Senate have already
begun hearings on HEA
reauthorization (expires end of
2013), efforts expected to ramp up
in Fall 2013.
• Likely themes:
o Supporting competency-based
approaches.
o Improving aid to assist working
students.
o Improving institutional
transparency and student
(―consumer‖) information.
o Increasing college
access, affordability, and
completion.
o Simplifying student aid.
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20. Recent Proposals to Reform Student Aid
• Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery (RADD)
– 14 organizations participated in grant-funded research sponsored by the Gates
Foundation
– Proposals includes consolidating all student aid programs into a single
grant, targeting tax credits to low-income students, improving institutional
transparency and consumer information on student outcomes.
– New phase of RADD grantees designed to support these organizations to
collaborate and provide collective recommendations.
• College Board Study Group Proposal
– Pell Y (23 and younger)
• Per-credit Pell Grant based on family income.
• Predictable and transparent.
– Pell A (24 and older)
• Per-credit Pell Grant benchmarked to average community college tuition.
• Must receive college and career navigation through one-stop system prior to
receiving financial aid

21. Workforce Investment Act
• Governs workforce training and services for adults and youth, adult
education (literacy and ESL), vocational rehab, etc.
• House Education and Workforce Committee voted along party lines
to adopt a bill that reforms a range of federal workforce programs.
– First significant push to reauthorize WIA since the Senate’s effort to
craft a bipartisan bill during 2011.
– Block grants several training programs and includes options to fold
TANF and adult education into the block grant.
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22. Immigration Reform
• Senate Judiciary Committee passed The Border Security, Economic
Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S.744) in May 2013.
– Contains several border security ―triggers‖ (conditions that must be met before
people can benefit from certain provisions of legalization).
– Three paths to citizenship range from 5-13 years (DREAMers, Standard
Path, Agricultural Workers)
– Various fees and eligibility requirements (e.g. employment, income above
federal poverty threshold) apply throughout adjustments and renewal of
RPI, LPR and naturalization.
– Individuals not eligible for any means tested federal benefits
(TANF, SSI, Medicaid, CHIP and SNAP) during the 10 year RPI status.
• House expected to take up immigration reform soon; they are unlikely to
adopt the full Senate proposal.
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23. DREAMers
• S. 744 includes provisions for DREAMers to become citizens.
– DREAMers (including DACA beneficiaries) who entered the U.S.
before the age of 16 can apply for Registered Provisional Status (RPI).
– Must graduate from high school or earn a GED and earn a college
degree, attended two years of college, or spent four years in the military
to obtain citizenship.
– In RPI status, will be able to access student loans, work-study and
services under the Higher Education Act (financial and academic
counseling) due to Sen. Hirono amendment.
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24. Is Sequestration Here to Stay?
• Sequestration took effect March 1, 2013 (~5.3% cut to
discretionary programs) and will have a 10-year impact if not
reversed or replaced.
• Future years of the sequester (FY14-21) are estimated to make
deeper cuts than FY13; fewer programs are exempt in FY14
and beyond.
• Most members of Congress agree that sequestration is a bad
way to reduce the deficit BUT cuts will likely remain for
FY13.
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“Nearly four in 10 Americans now say sequestration has hurt them personally, up
substantially since it began in March…About half of those affected say the impact
has been ‘major.’
– ABC News/Washington Post Poll, May 2013

25. Federal Budget: Welcome to the New Normal
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Source: Bipartisan Policy Center
Federal Non-Defense Discretionary Spending , 2012-2021

26. 2014 Appropriations…and Beyond
• Congressional Actions for FY2014
– House proposed appropriations limits are aligned with budget caps in
the Budget Control Act of 2011, but make deeper cuts to non-defense
discretionary programs. House Appropriations Committee approved
spending limits for Labor, Health, and Human Services 18.6% below
sequestration levels (this determines the ―size of the pie‖).
– Senate proposed spending limits for Labor, Health and Human Services
are likely to be higher and based on the assumption that the sequester
will be repealed.
• Budget future remains as uncertain as FY13. If Congress does not
act, sequestration will remain in effect and reduced budget caps will
influence negotiations.
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27. Federal Budget: What You Can Do
• Tell Your Story! How has sequestration impacted your program?
Your students?
– Student Testimonials
– Media Reports
– Visiting your member at their home office
– Invite your member to your college or program
• Stay Informed!
– Coalition for Human Needs Action Alerts
– SavePell.org
– CLASP email blasts
– Your member associations
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28. GED Changes
• New GED is coming in January 2014.
– Computer-based
– More rigorous: two cut scores indicate two different levels of
proficiency
– Previous work to complete existing subject tests will be
eliminated
– Flat fee per content area test; re-testing fees for non-passers
• Major concerns from states and programs:
– Cost
– Accessibility
– Teacher Preparation
– Portability

29. New GED Costs May Pose Barrier for
Student Access
• Among states that charge a flat fee (28), only 2 charge at least
$120, and one is a CBT pilot state.
• Among states that allow programs to locally determine GED
testing fees (13), only 5 states reported the maximum fee that
some of their local programs charge can be above $120.
 For the vast majority of students, a GED testing fee of
$120 for the full battery of tests will represent a stark cost
increase.
Source: Sinking or Swimming: Findings from a Survey of State Adult Education Tuition and Financing Policies, 2012.

30. Changes to the GED: State Actions
• NH (ETS - HiSET)
• MT (ETS - HiSET)
• NY (TASC – McGrawHill)
No GED in 2014
• TN
Dual System (GED and Other test)
• IN
• CA
• FL
• WV
• MA
Exploring Options

31. Take Action: Recap!
• TANF
– State-by-state advocacy (contact CLASP for more information)
• SNAP
– Food Research and Action Center (http://frac.org/leg-act-center/)
• Child Care
– Strong Start for Children Campaign (http://bit.ly/12jWbdx)
• Pell Grants
– Save Pell Coalition (www.SavePell.org)
• Adult Education/GED/ESL
– National Coalition for Literacy (http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org/)
• All Other/Budget
– Coalition on Human Needs (www.chn.org)
– NDD United
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32. Want more updates? Keep in touch.
For more information:
Marcie Foster
mwmfoster@clasp.org
202-906-8033
For updates:
• Sign up at www.clasp.org
• Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CLASP.org
• Follow us on Twitter: @CLASP_DC
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