Dear Campus Partners,

By now you have likely read Tuesday’s “Dear Colleague” guidance letter from the Department of Education (ED), prohibiting the use of Federal Work-Study (FWS) funds to pay students for work involving any partisan or nonpartisan political activity on or off campus, which the new guidance currently interprets as including voter registration, voter assistance at polling places or through a voter hotline, and serving as a poll worker. The letter rescinds guidance from the previous Administration, which interpreted the same Federal regulations as explicitly allowing a broad range of nonpartisan civic engagement activities, including all those mentioned above.

Fair Elections Center and its Campus Vote Project supported the earlier interpretation and celebrated it as an important step in expanding civic engagement and civic education opportunities for students. We are disappointed in the new guidance, which removes funding for critical learning experiences from students who need it the most and undermines the educational mission of higher education institutions producing wellrounded, civically engaged leaders for tomorrow.

Even though FWS funds may no longer be used for these specific purposes, this does not close the door on civic education efforts, and the Higher Education Act requirement that schools must make a good-faith effort to distribute voter registration forms to students remains in effect.

We believe that higher education institutions are more important than ever in supporting a civically educated, engaged citizenry. In keeping with that educational mission, there remain multiple alternative resources and opportunities available to engage students in voter registration and voter education activities. This is an occasion to get creative in utilizing such existing mechanisms as student government, student affairs and student activities, clubs, academics, and athletics. The Ask Every Student toolkit is a great resource for student engagement strategies.

If you have any questions about the new guidance letter, we encourage you to speak with your institution’s general counsel.
If you have any questions on how to engage students outside of work-study programs, we encourage you to reach out to our Campus Vote Project team.

We know that, for many, these are challenging times, but we are here to support you, and, as always, if there are legal challenges or further updates from the Department of Education impacting student’s voting rights, we will let you know.
In partnership and gratitude,

Mike
Michael Burns
he/him/his
National Director, Campus Vote Project
Learn More: campusvoteproject.org