The White House released and sent to Congress its fiscal year 2025 budget proposal on March 11, detailing the Biden-Harris Administration’s plan for federal spending beginning on October 1. Programs that impact the aging services workforce cross multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Education (ED), Department of Homeland Security, Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Here we take a deeper dive into the proposed investments through ED in Career Technical Education (CTE) and affordable collegiate education that are likely to strengthen and grow the aging services workforce.

Career Connected High Schools & Career Technical Education: The proposed budget requests $1.47 billion dollars for the Career and Technical Education State Grants program to support, expand, and build new models for workforce development starting in middle and high school.

The budget also requests $57 million for Career-Connected High Schools, including $32 million in new awards within Career and Technical Education National Programs. These programs award competitive grants to partnerships between local educational agencies, institutions of higher education (including community colleges), and employers. This funding will support early enrollment in post-secondary and career connected coursework, work based learning opportunities, and academic career connected instruction across the last two years of high school and first two years of post-secondary education.

College Affordability & Completion: The Administration proposes a new Reducing the Costs of College Fund, a $12 billion mandatory proposal to provide high school students access to free, career-connected dual enrollment courses. The proposal includes $90 billion in mandatory funding to make two years of community college free for first-time students and workers wanting to reskill through partnerships between the federal government, states and territories, and tribes.