In today’s changing American economy, workers with only a high school degree often cannot earn enough to support a family. By 2031, 72 percent of jobs will require postsecondary education or training beyond high school, according to Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce.
Community college is a path to success for workers – and our nation’s economic competitiveness. Community college graduates earn more than $400,000 more over their lifetime than high school graduates. Today more than half of students in postsecondary education are the first generation in their families to attend college (first-gen), so they can’t always ask mom and dad for help with what classes to take, whether to attend professors’ office hours, or how to pay for college.
What is a SIP Grant? How Do Community Colleges Win One?
The Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) is an often-overlooked federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), which can be used to help low-income and first-gen students complete college.
Community colleges can use SIP grants for a variety of supports, including student counseling and advising, new technology, science and lab equipment, classrooms, libraries, improving academic programs, and faculty development.
To be eligible for a SIP grant, it doesn’t matter how many minority students the institution enrolls. Instead, institutions must enroll at least 50 percent low-income students (receiving need-based federal aid) or enroll more Pell Grant students than the median for the same type of institution (44 percent at community colleges). Further, institutions must be low-resourced, with below average funding per student. No offense to Ivy League schools, but you aren’t eligible for this one.
SIP grants are extremely competitive, so only applications with the best plans to improve student success are able to win. In the latest competition in 2023, ED was only able to award funding to the top 18 percent of applicants (105 grants out of 590 applicants). The cutoff score was 101.67 – yes, that’s above 100 percent! – out of a total possible 106 points (including bonus points).
In 2025, 105 community colleges currently have a SIP grant, and another 357 are eligible to apply for a new grant. View the full list here.
Community Colleges with SIP Grants – Running Ahead of the Pack
SIP grants have extremely strong results. ED sets annual targets for program performance to help these high-need, low-resourced schools to gradually close the gap with wealthier institutions nationwide. Two-year institutions receiving SIP grants have beat their graduation rate targets in each of the past five years – despite the challenges of the global pandemic.
According to the most recent data, in 2023, SIP institutions beat ED’s target graduation rate by 35 percent! (SIP 2-year institutions had a 3-year graduation rate of 34.3 percent compared to a target of 25.5 percent. See Figure 1.)
Preserve and Protect SIP
Unfortunately, despite publishing the strong outcomes in the annual congressional budget justifications, the Department of Education proposed completely eliminating funding for SIP in fiscal year 2026. While both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees rejected the proposal to fully eliminate SIP, both the House and Senate spending bills for Labor, HHS, and Education propose to cut SIP by $5 million.
A cut in funding to the effective SIP program would make it harder – not easier – for students and families to get ahead. Further, cutting SIP would make it harder to get enough college-educated workers to fill critical jobs in our changing economy.
Swift action by Congress is critical to support students’ chance to earn a brighter future – and it’s critical for our nation’s economic competitiveness.
Jonathan Elkin is an independent consultant with experience in the U.S. House and Senate, state and local government, and bipartisan federal advocacy from early childhood to K-12 and higher education. Get in touch on LinkedIn or at Uniting for Student Success, LLC.
Photocredit: picryl
