CommonSense Americans influenced key legislation extending federal support for Career-Connected Learning.

CASE STUDY

Career-Connected Learning Receives Far Less Federal Funding Than 4-Year Degrees

In the eighty years following the passage of the GI bill, which established federal support for college education, we have never gotten above 40% of Americans obtaining four-year degrees. Yet, the federal government offers $112 billion per year in ongoing funding for grants, work-study programs, and loans for college students. In contrast, the federal government provides less than $7 billion per year in ongoing funding for shorter-term career education programs.

In an age where the costs of traditional four-year universities are skyrocketing, many Americans seek non-college paths toward financial stability and upward mobility. With this information in mind, CommonSense American members selected Career-Connected Learning (CCL) as the issue they wanted to work on in 2023.

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Widespread Support for Career-Connected Learning and Workforce Pell

After taking the brief, CommonSense Americans overwhelmingly endorsed greater federal support for CCL. They also strongly agreed that the $7 billion in support given to the more than 60% of Americans who don’t attain a four-year degree is too little relative to the $112 billion in support for the fewer than 40% of Americans who do attain a four-year degree. Many members saw this striking difference in funding as a problem worthy of federal attention.

88
%
Support
Breakdown the data by party, state, income, education, race, and ethnicity. View the Results Dashboard.

There was widespread agreement among everyday Americans that Workforce Pell is an appropriate way to increase financial support for workforce education programs. This proposal to extend Pell Grant eligibility to shorter-term career and certificate programs received 89% support from CommonSense Americans. Republican, Democratic, and Independent members alike shared the belief that Workforce Pell would significantly boost thousands of Americans’ ability to attain higher-paying and more meaningful jobs. 

While broadly supporting Workforce Pell legislation, CommonSense Americans also emphasized that Pell Grants should only support programs that cost-effectively place graduates in higher-paying jobs. Strong majorities supported outcome performance requirements, administrative approval criteria, and requiring that Career-Connected Learning programs can count towards additional credentialing in the future. There was wide opposition to excluding totally online programs from Workforce Pell eligibility.

Creating CommonSense Solutions

Members of CommonSense American effectively address issues like Career-Connected Learning using these four steps:

1

IDENTIFY ISSUES

Our members identify meaningful solutions with the greatest promise of attracting broad, cross-partisan support like Infrastructure and Surprise Medical Billing.
2

DEVELOP BRIEFS

Our staff develops a thorough policy brief on each issue.
3

WEIGH IN

Each member reviews the brief and weighs in on the policy questions.
4

ENGAGE CONGRESS

Each member shares their own views with their members of Congress and CommonSense American staff conduct briefings with members of Congress on the national results.

With members in all 50 states, our balanced membership reflects the nation both politically and geographically.

Because our members are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, members of Congress and their staff tell us they value our members views more than partisan and special interest advocates. Members of Congress appreciate hearing the informed views of the voters who put them in office and will decide if they stay.

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It works! Keep reading to learn how we informed smart legislation on Career-Connected Learning.

In July 2025, President Trump signed the budget reconciliation bill, which included legislation to extend Pell Grants to shorter workforce training programs. The specific provisions of this legislation aligned strongly with the opinions shared by CommonSense Americans in our brief results, emphasizing performance outcome criteria over administrative rules to ensure Pell Grant money is only applied towards programs that truly place graduates in higher-paying jobs. 

Through our new volunteer State Ambassador program, our reach in Congress grew fivefold as we briefed a record 320 Congressional offices on the views of the thousands of CommonSense Americans who weighed in on the CCL brief. The poll results, which included 89% support for Workforce Pell, shaped each of these 320 meetings. 

After receiving initial member responses to the CCL brief, CommonSense American staff shared preliminary results with staff from leading members of the House Education and Workforce Committee. A few weeks later, the committee introduced the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act, a bill with specifications that aligned closely with what most CommonSense Americans wanted to see in Workforce Pell legislation.

In February 2024, the National Institute for Civil Discourse released full results from CommonSense American’s CCL brief during a panel discussion and announcement on Capitol Hill.  During the event, House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) released a rare joint press release celebrating the brief results and agreement among CommonSense Americans. In Chair Foxx’s words, “The recent survey data provided by the NICD is welcome news and shows the environment is ripe for transformative changes to skills-based learning. With 10 million unfilled jobs, employers across all industries are eager to find qualified workers. Job creators find that skills-based credentials can effectively prepare workers. But many of these short-term programs are out of reach for low-income students.”

Though the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act did not go up for a vote before the end of the 118th Congress, CommonSense American continued to brief Congressional offices on our members’ support for Workforce Pell legislation. Thanks to our members’ incredible efforts to complete the brief, and to the stunning levels of agreement they demonstrated, we were grateful Congress took action to help provide tens of thousands of Americans with opportunities to pursue higher-paying and more meaningful careers. 

Ending surprise medical billing, passing bipartisan infrastructure legislation, supporting congressional reform, and investing in career-connected learning are major achievements. But, we’re just getting started. We invite you to join us as we tackle more issues together.

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