Quarterly Advocacy Update (April 2026)

IN THIS ISSUE

 

Washington Update: FY 2027 Appropriations Season Commences

On Friday, April 3, the White House Office of Management and Budget released President Trump’s fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget request. The proposal prioritizes national security investments, while proposing major cuts to federal programs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) supporting social work education and training.

For programs within ED, the budget request proposes level funding of the maximum Pell Grant award at $7,395 for the 2027-2028 award year. It would fund the Federal Work Study (FWS) program at $123 million, a decrease of approximately $1.1 billion, and notably proposes reforming FWS to require employers to pay 90 percent of student wages.

For agencies within HHS, the request would provide $17.6 billion for a new operating agency called the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). AHA would consolidate key functions of many health agencies including the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and several programs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into the new agency. The budget request would fund SAMHSA at $6.8 billion but notably would eliminate the minority fellowship program (MFP). The budget request would also fund HRSA for a total of $1.9 billion in discretionary funding, including 129.3 million for Behavioral Health Workforce Development Programs, including the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program (BHWET), Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program, and Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan Repayment Program.

The budget request proposes $41.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and caps NIH indirect cost rates at 15 percent, as well as fully-fund upfront all research project grants in 2027.

The budget request kicks off the annual federal spending process for the fiscal year and provides suggested funding based on the Administration’s priorities, but it is important to note that Congress ultimately determines federal funding amounts.

For CSWE’s official statement on the FY 2027 President’s Budget Request, please see here.

In conjunction with the release of the budget, Congress has begun the process of determining the funding levels of agencies for FY 2027, slated to begin on October 1, 2026. While the deadline to submit appropriations requests to the House and Senate have passed, the House Appropriations Committee has scheduled various mark-ups of funding legislation, with the bill funding programs within HHS and ED to occur on Friday, June 5 and Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Over the next months, Administration officials will also provide testimony on Capitol Hill to key budget and appropriations committees.


CSWE Responds to ED's Professional Degree Definition and Related Student Loan Policies

On January 29, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published in pre-publication proposed rules that were created and agreed upon by the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) committee. The proposed rules include the new loan caps with the annual graduate loan limits at $20,500 for graduate students and $50,000 for professional students; the aggregate limit is capped at $100,000 for graduate students and $200,000 for professional students. Additionally, ED updated its definition of “professional degrees,” with social work excluded from that definition. Historically, social work has been recognized as a professional degree, allowing MSW students to access federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and other critical funding. Under the proposed rule, social work would no longer meet the professional degree criteria, creating significant financial barriers for students. This change comes amid growing demand for social workers in behavioral health, child welfare, education, and community services—sectors already facing severe workforce shortages.

To advocate on behalf of social work education, CSWE submitted a detailed public comment to the Department outlining why social work should be considered as a professional degree and thus qualify for further access to fund education, along with the impacts this designation may have on the behavioral health workforce. CSWE additionally engaged with members to submit their own personalized comments that demonstrate the importance of the MSW/DSW degree, and how the proposed final rule will impact the field of social work in their local community. 

 

ED Releases Final Proposed Rules on Workforce Pell and Institutional Accountability Metrics

On April 20, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released proposed rules on institutional accountability, following the conclusion of the negotiated rulemaking by the Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) committee, the second part of the process of implementing policy changes that were included in the One Big Beautiful Act (OBBBA).

Ultimately, the proposed rules largely reflect the language that reached consensus during the rulemaking session in January. Under the proposed final rules, the Debt-to-Earnings (D/E) metric and would be replaced with an “earnings premium” test known as the Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS). This would require that an institution’s programs must pass an earnings premium test that would apply to all programs and would include opportunities to regain eligibility in the future if eligibility is lost.

Under STATS, institutions would have to report program-level tuition, fees, and grant/scholarship data to the Department, as well as notify enrolled students with warnings about programs at risk of losing Direct Loan eligibility and notify Pell-eligible students of their remaining lifetime Pell eligibility at each disbursement. Notably, the "earnings premium" test requires that graduates out-earn individuals with only a high school diploma (or a bachelor's degree, for master's programs). Master’s programs failing this test in two of three consecutive award years would lose Title IV direct loan eligibility, with a pathway to regain it.

ED welcomes public comments regarding the proposed rules until May 20, 2026, and CSWE is slated to respond on behalf of members.

 

ED Hosts First Round of the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) commenced another negotiated rulemaking session by the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) committee, which convened for its first out of two-rulemaking session from April 13–17, 2026, to discuss ED’s proposal to overhaul the federal accreditation framework. The AIM negotiated rulemaking committee is a product of President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14279, Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education, signed on April 23, 2025. The order directed ED to reform what the administration characterized as a “dysfunctional accreditation system” and ensure colleges focus on delivering quality programs at a reasonable price.

During this first session, negotiators went through the Department’s 151-page initial draft, organized around a few broad focus areas:
  • Reducing regulatory burden on accrediting agencies;
  • Limiting anti-competitive behavior in the accreditation landscape;
  • Mandating institutional compliance with federal and state law, particularly regarding free speech and prohibitions on preferential treatment based on protected characteristics;
  • Requiring program-level student outcome data to assess return on investment; and
  • Incorporating institutional affordability and credit transferability as factors in accreditor evaluations.
Throughout the rulemaking session, many negotiators, specifically those representing students, institutions, and accreditors, noted several provisions of concern proposed by the Department, including some that they deemed to be executive overreach into areas traditionally governed by institutional autonomy and peer review. Furthermore, some negotiators also expressed concern over provisions in the draft regulations including how student achievement is measured, new credit transferability expectations for institutions, language that directs accreditors to ensure “academic freedom” and “intellectual diversity” are applied consistently to institutional standards, and the ability for ED to override accreditor decisions.

The second and final week of the AIM rulemaking committee is scheduled for May 18–22, 2026, and will include a formal vote on the proposed regulations. If the committee fails to reach consensus, ED is not legally required to incorporate committee recommendations and may proceed to finalize rules on its own terms. Following the second session, ED will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), opening the 30-day public comment period for stakeholder feedback.

 

Department of Education Announces Headquarters Exit and Other Operational Changes

On March 26, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it will be leaving its headquarters at the Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) federal building, perhaps the most publicly visible move towards the Trump Administration’s goal to downsize the agency. According to the fact sheet released by the Department, “there is no impact on staff operating out of the LBJ Building.”

On March 19, ED announced an interagency agreement (IAA) with the U.S Department of Treasury (Treasury) focusing on transitioning parts of the federal student loan portfolio. In the press release, ED states that “Treasury will assume operational responsibility for collecting on defaulted Federal student loan debt and provide operational support to ED’s efforts to return borrowers to repayment. In subsequent phases, Treasury will work to provide operational support over non-defaulted Federal student loan debt, to the extent practicable and permitted by law, while also seeking opportunities to provide operational support to FSA’s other functions.”

ED's relocation, combined with the Department’s efforts to transfer its functions to other agencies through 10 IAAs announced to date, signals that the Trump Administration is keen to reshape the federal education footprint and reduce costs. However, shutting down the agency would require an act by Congress signed into law.

 

HRSA Forecasts Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recently announced a forecasted funding opportunity on Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS). The formal opportunity is expected to be posted on April 28, 2026, and due June 12, 2026, with an Award Date of August 1, 2026.

SDS provides funding to schools to provide scholarship opportunities to students pursuing a graduate degree(s) in Clinical Social Work, Gerontological Counseling, and Mental Health Counseling from economically, educationally, or environmentally disadvantaged backgrounds. Specific eligibility requirements are outlined on the SDS page. This forecasted funding opportunity would renew the previous SDS opportunity from FY 2025, regardless of its proposed cute in the FY 2027 President’s Budget Request.

 

First Lady Melania Trump Hosts Roundtable Discussion on the U.S. Foster Care System

On Wednesday, April 15, First Lady Melania Trump participated in a closed-door roundtable meeting with a bipartisan group of Members of Congress from the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss the foster care system in the United States. This builds on the recent Executive Order released by the Trump Administration in November 2025 titled Fostering the Future for American Children and Families, which aims to utilize public-private partnerships to provide increased support for foster youth.

During the roundtable, former foster youth shared their experience living in foster care, advocating for increased financial resources for foster youth transitioning to adulthood. The First Lady and the Committee also discussed a series of bills introduced last month to modernize the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood program. This program was initially created in 1999 and has yet to be reviewed/updated since its inception.

 

Advocacy Roundup

Between January and April 2026, CSWE has issued the following statements and documents.
Mental Health America Day of Action: On Friday, May 15, Mental Health America (MHA) is hosting a ‘Mental Health Day of Action’. The day will consist of a Congressional briefing in Washington DC to discuss the EARLY Minds Act and current landscape of mental health and substance use services across the country and highlight the services and supports needed to fill gaps in effective, community-based care.

The briefing will be preceded by a virtual pep rally and information session on May 4 at 4:00 pm EST. To learn more, check out MHA’s advocacy toolkit for Mental Health Awareness month!
 

Advocacy Resources

CSWE


Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
  • Title VII and VIII Advocacy Toolkit: The AAMC has prepared an advocacy toolkit, to urge Congress to provide at least $1.51 billion in FY 2026 for the Title VII health professions and Title VIII nursing professions programs.

Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC)
Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Coalition
  • PSLF Toolkit, developed by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund
Mental Health America (MHA)