On August 19, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter clarifying colleges’ responsibilities for distributing voter registration forms and the use of Federal Work Study (FWS) funds. The Department rescinded two earlier guidance documents (GEN-22-05 and GEN-24-03) that had expanded the ways institutions could use FWS funds for voter registration. It now directs institutions to avoid using FWS funds for any work that involves “partisan or nonpartisan political activity.” This includes activities such as conducting voter registration drives, serving as a poll worker, or staffing voter hotlines, whether on or off campus. Instead, the Department encourages schools to place students in FWS positions that connect to their academic programs and career development.
The Department also reaffirms that, under the Higher Education Act, covered colleges must make a good-faith effort to distribute voter registration forms to students either in paper or electronic form. It urges institutions to remind students of voting eligibility rules, including citizenship, residence requirements, and prohibitions on double voting or falsifying information. The Department encouraged colleges to “remain mindful of their existing obligations under the law to avoid aiding and abetting voter fraud, such as actions to aid and abet a noncitizen to vote in a federal election.” The Department clarifies that schools may withhold voter registration materials from students they reasonably believe cannot vote in federal or state elections, such as foreign students.