College Completion

TICAS’ 2026 Federal Policy Agenda advises members of the 119th Congress how to make it possible for any student—regardless of their financial circumstances—to earn a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential without taking on burdensome debt. 

Today, appropriators released a bipartisan, bicameral compromise for fiscal year (FY) 2026 that maintains funding for essential financial aid and student support programs, including the Pell Grant program, TRIO, and the Postsecondary Student Success Grant (PSSG) Program. TICAS released the following statement in response.

On November 18, 2025, the Department of Education (ED) announced that it has entered into Interagency Agreements with the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Interior, and State to transfer programmatic management of core education functions to those agencies. TICAS released the following statement.

Colleges cannot increase completion when students’ basic needs go unmet. To highlight what federally-supported basic needs investments make possible…

“A reason students drop out is because basic needs are unmet. If you’re not eating, you’re not focusing…

We collaborated with the Partnership for College Completion and the Here Lab on a new report that shows how targeting aid specifically to low-income, low-wealth students would increase college enrollment, raise graduation rates by state, and reduce student loan defaults.