Bipartisan Higher Education Leaders Convene at Nation's Capitol to Advocate for College Completion and Student Success

More than 20 leaders from 13 U.S. states and territories travel to Washington, D.C., for fourth annual Complete College America Day on the Hill

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Complete College America (CCA), a national advocacy organization dedicated to improving college completion rates, today held its fourth annual "CCA Day on the Hill." The event brought together higher education leaders from colleges, state systems of higher education, and policy organizations across the country to Washington, D.C., to advocate for federal policies that scale evidence-based practices proven to help more students complete college.

"At a time when the demands of our economy and labor market are rapidly shifting, ensuring that more Americans earn a college degree or credential of value has never been more urgent," said Dr. Yolanda Watson Spiva, president of Complete College America. "The leaders gathered here today represent the best of what our higher education system can be: mission-driven, data-informed, and united in their commitment to student success. We are proud to carry that momentum directly to Congress."

Throughout the day, higher education leaders and advocates from 13 states and territories, including Alabama, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington, met with members of Congress and their staffs to advance key college completion priorities at the federal level. Meetings targeted members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the House Education and Workforce Committee, as well as members of key congressional AI task forces.

Participants advocated for a focused set of legislative priorities, including:

• Reintroduction and passage of the Postsecondary Student Success Act, which would authorize federal grants to states and institutions to scale evidence-based college completion practices;
• Passage of the College Transparency Act, to improve the availability of data on student outcomes and institutional performance;
• Reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), to better align workforce development and postsecondary education;
• Address the Pell Grant funding shortfall, to secure access and affordability for students with financial need; and
• Investment in AI infrastructure and ethical standards to enable personalized, technology-driven student support.

"These policy priorities reflect what states and institutions are already doing to help students succeed — and what the federal government can do to accelerate that work at scale," said Dr. Dhanfu Elston, chief of staff and senior vice president for Strategy at Complete College America. "The leaders here today are not just advocates. They are practitioners who have seen these evidence-based approaches work in their own institutions and states. Congress needs to hear from them directly."

Among the participants representing states and institutions at the 2026 CCA Day on the Hill:

• Alabama: Cynthia Anthony, president, Lawson State Community College
• California: Mary Lee Vance, director, CSU Sacramento
• Kansas: Rusty Monhollon, consultant and former state higher education officer
• Louisiana: Margaret Montgomery-Richard, partner, DMM Associates and former chancellor of Louisiana Technical College
• Maryland: David Kung, executive director, Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics (TPSE-Math)
• New Mexico: Barbara Damron, professor emerita and visiting professor, University of New Mexico; Patricia Trujillo, deputy cabinet secretary, New Mexico Higher Education Department
• Puerto Rico: Milagritos Gonzalez Rivera, coordinator, Center for Learning & Success, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez
• South Carolina: Susan Elkins, professor and immediate past chancellor, University of South Carolina Palmetto College; Timothy Rees, college completion and transfer and articulation manager, South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
• Tennessee: Steven Gentile, executive director, Tennessee Higher Education Commission
• Vermont: Jennifer-Kristina Jones, associate vice president of academic support and educational opportunity programs, Vermont State University
• Washington: Joel Anderson, associate director of legislative & external affairs, Washington Student Achievement Council

The 2026 Day on the Hill featured a three-day format including a preparation and strategy session on June 8, the full day of congressional meetings on June 9, and a debrief and long-term advocacy strategy session on June 10. The expanded format reflects CCA's commitment to building sustained, year-round federal engagement among its alliance members and partners — not just a single day of advocacy.

The Complete College America Alliance is a national coalition of 53 states, systems, and institutions of higher education committed to increasing the number of students who successfully complete degrees or credentials of value. The Alliance covers more than 1,000 institutions serving over 8.1 million students.

For more information about Complete College America and to get involved, please visit CompleteCollege.org or contact Andrew Morse at [email protected].

About Complete College America: Complete College America (CCA) builds movements for scaled change and transforms institutions through data-driven policies, student-centered perspectives, and equity-driven practices. Since its founding in 2009, CCA connects a national network of forward-thinking state and higher education leaders and introduces bold initiatives to help states and institutions confront inequities, close institutional performance gaps, and increase college completion rates, especially for marginalized and historically excluded students. For more information, visit www.completecollege.org.

SOURCE Complete College America