Advocacy

Career colleges and schools make a powerful impact on the economy in Ohio and Michigan, and when we stand together to raise issues that are important to us, we are heard. OMACCS is the only organization in either state that unifies the voices of career colleges and schools, and shares our story with legislators and regulators.

Who we represent
We act as the voice for nearly 300 career colleges and schools that provide professional, technical, career-specific programs in over 200 occupational areas. They grant degrees, certificates, and diplomas.

How we take action
We keep in regular contact with the state licensing boards of Michigan and Ohio, accrediting commissions, and state and regional professional agencies, and provide up-to-the-minute information to the Ohio and Michigan General Assemblies, Ohio Board of Regents, Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, and the U.S. Dept. of Education.

Ohio CARES Act Funding:

OMACCS has been communicating with Chancellor Gardner at the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) regarding the CARES Act funding and advocating the impact our sector has on post-secondary education in the state of Ohio. As a result of our efforts, we are pleased to announce the award of $1.94M to many of our Ohio schools, the list of recipients was emailed to all Ohio career colleges and schools on July 28, 2020.

Our $1.94M of the allocated $200M in CARES Act funds, will help higher education institutions with reopening expenses, and are not limited to, campus modifications necessary to ensure adequate physical distancing; increased campus sanitation & disinfection standards; academic delivery & remote learning capacity enhancements; PPEs, and testing. Allocations are based on “campus FTE enrollments with additional weight for students who are Pell eligible and/or campus residents”.

This is HUGE news for our sector and as a result of OMACCS committed advocacy efforts, the Ohio Department of Higher Education is including our career colleges and schools with the public institutions, community colleges, and the non-profits, for the CARES Act funding. OMACCS continues to be your 1-VOICE and our advocacy efforts are paying off!! For information regarding the application process, please visit https://grants.ohio.gov/fundingopportunities.aspx and scroll down to click on “CARES Act – Coronavirus Relief Fund – Ohio Higher Education” to learn more about this phenomenal opportunity and register to begin the application process!

Institutions are required to submit an initial application attesting to their knowledge of the allowable uses of funds and their intent to expend them accordingly. Financial compliance deadlines include an interim report on Thursday, October 15th and a final report on Wednesday, December 30th.

COVID-19 Survey Results:
During the month of June, OMACCS emailed a brief survey to the campus directors at our member schools to solicit feedback on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has impacted your college, school and business. THANK YOU for taking the time to respond to our survey, what we learn will help OMACCS advocate to our legislators, public officials and the Governors’ Offices on behalf of your institutions and our sector of higher education! 18% of our member schools responded to the survey, and the following are the results from the survey responses.