WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) led eight Senators in urging U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to ensure the timely delivery of federal funds for the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) and College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), which support important educational opportunities for agricultural farm worker students.

Across the nation, HEP and CAMP serve more than 8,000 students from agricultural farm worker families. California receives the largest allocation of these funds. The failure to ensure the timely execution of these federal programs threatens to undermine students' success in California and across the country.

"HEP and CAMP programs have a 50+ year legacy of supporting students from farmworker and rural backgrounds so they can earn their High School Equivalency Diploma and succeed in college, thereby contributing to our country's economic workforce," wrote the Senators. "We are deeply concerned that any delays in administering the HEP and CAMP programs will result in irreversible damage to our students, families, and communities."

"We urge the Department of Education to follow the letter and spirit of the law by posting notices inviting applications as soon as possible to ensure that the HEP and CAMP programs are able to continue their vital work," continued the Senators.

On September 18, the Education Department released HEP and CAMP funding but did not issue any new grants. Two California HEP programs, West Hills Community College and California State University (CSU) San Bernardino, and two California CAMP programs, CSU Fresno and CSU Monterey Bay, received non-continuation letters in the middle of their funding cycles. The Senators also urged the Department to award prior experience points for programs that submit applications that were canceled or discontinued in the last competition.

In addition to Padilla and Merkley, Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also signed the letter.

In response to the Administration's previously delayed releasing of HEP CAMP funding, which caused providers to eliminate programs and fire the staff that support our nation's migrant and farm worker students, Padilla and Merkley led a bipartisan group of Senate and House lawmakers in demanding that the Office of Management and Budget and the Education Department immediately release $52.1 million in federal funding for the programs. Padilla also joined Merkley and a bipartisan group of Senators to sound the alarm over the Trump Administration delaying millions of dollars in federal education grants with no-cost extensions for TRIO programs, which support low-income, first-generation college students from all backgrounds.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Secretary McMahon:

We are writing to urge you to issue a notice inviting applications as soon as possible for two competitive grant programs that support agricultural farmworker students: the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) and the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP). These are important programs serving farmworker and rural communities that enjoy longstanding bipartisan support. HEP and CAMP will be best positioned to achieve statutory requirements through timely execution actions by the Department of Education.

As you likely know, HEP and CAMP programs provide critical access to educational opportunities for students from migrant or seasonal farmworker families. HEP helps students who have dropped out of high school get their High School Equivalency Credential and serves more than 6,000 students annually. CAMP assists students in their first year of college with academic, personal, and financial support, and serves approximately 2,400 migrant participants annually. Overall, nearly three-quarters of all CAMP students graduate with baccalaureate degrees.

Congress annually appropriates funding for HEP and CAMP programs on a bipartisan basis, and the FY26 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which President Trump signed into law, appropriated $52.1 million for the grants authorized under these programs.

Notably, the Senate Report accompanying the FY26 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which carries forward in the explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, directs the federal government to ensure the timely execution of all grants. The report reads: "it is critical that the Federal grant making process is implemented in a timely, efficient, and consistent matter. The Committee directs the Departments funded in this act . . . to ensure that funding opportunity announcements are posted, non-competing continuation awards are made, new grants are awarded, and funding is disbursed all in a timely, efficient, and consistent manner."

The aforementioned Senate Report also contains explicit language directing the Department to administer HEP and CAMP in a timely manner. More specifically, the report says: "The Committee urges the Department to accelerate the program development timeline so notices inviting applications can be issued early enough for the Department to make new and noncompeting continuation awards before July 1." In order for the Department to make this July 1 deadline, we urge the Department to issue notices inviting applications as soon as possible with a 60-day deadline for grantees to apply.

Unfortunately, in FY25, the Department of Education cancelled the competition that was underway for the HEP and CAMP programs, which resulted in the elimination of 30 existing programs that were competing for another 5-year grant. The Department also discontinued 13 mid-cycle grants that had been approved, which negatively impacted programs. As such, for the HEP and CAMP programs that did not receive funding due to the cancelled FY25 competition or were discontinued, we urge the Department to afford these programs prior experience points in the event they submit a grant in a new FY26 grant competition.

The Department of Education currently has significant funding available this fiscal year to administer robust grant competitions. The Department created the situation when it chose to front-load awards for certain grantees for future budget years of approved applications and cancelled the competition underway for HEP and CAMP programs.

HEP and CAMP programs have a 50+ year legacy of supporting students from farmworker and rural backgrounds so they can earn their High School Equivalency Diploma and succeed in college, thereby contributing to our country's economic workforce. We are deeply concerned that any delays in administering the HEP and CAMP programs will result in irreversible damage to our students, families, and communities.

Therefore, we urge the Department of Education to follow the letter and spirit of the law by posting notices inviting applications as soon as possible to ensure that the HEP and CAMP programs are able to continue their vital work. We appreciate your support in positively impacting countless more students' lives by following the recent appropriations law and helping keep these important programs working to support farm-working families and communities.

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