Dear Colleagues,

As the overall attacks on higher education in Congress intensify, this week the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved a bill that would pay for a proposal to make Pell Grants available for short term (less than 15 weeks) job training programs by taking away federal student loans for students at institutions that pay the endowment tax.

The surprise amendment would have some of our nation’s most promising students pay for a new and somewhat controversial extension of Pell Grants by throwing them into the more expensive private loan market. Even more disturbing, the loan cut off would go into effect next July 1, adding even more chaos for students and institutions awaiting the delayed FAFSA form.

As I wrote in my letter to Committee members prior to them marking up the bill … “the bill would strip federal student aid eligibility from at least 64,000 students with virtually no warning, …(and) fundamentally undermines the very nature of federal student aid: that middle- and lower-income students, not the government, should be able to choose the college that best fits their needs and interests. This provision essentially tells federally aided students that the government has decided that certain schools are not for them. Federal student grants and loans are there to do the exact opposite – give all students the choice of where to pursue their education.”

I also pointed out the unfairness of the endowment tax itself. “First and foremost, it is an unprecedented tax on nonprofits. Because it is based on the endowment size per student, it targets institutions based on size, hitting many smaller colleges … Second, the endowment tax applies only to private colleges that rely on their endowments to provide financial stability. Unlike our public colleagues, we do not have the faith and credit of state governments providing that fiscal assurance to our creditors.”

Fortunately, we at NAICU were not alone in the effort to try and stave off the inclusion of the proposed offset in this bill. My letter is only a summary of the many arguments being forcefully made by the presidents and government relations experts at the affected institutions and backed by the power of our state executive colleagues. Their work led to five different subcommittee members raising concerns with the provision and Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) indicating the Committee would try and find a new offset before the bill went to the House floor.

I was once again both buoyed and gratified by the amazing network of private, nonprofit institutions that are part of the NAICU membership and their endless passion for their students. Thanks to every one of you who jumped into the fray. We made a lot of progress, but the battle is not over. I encourage anyone in our network who would like to assist us in these efforts to contact our government relations team at governmentrelations@naicu.edu. See our lede story below for more details on the bill and next steps.

In another sign of progress on problematic legislation, the Senate has slowed down consideration of the DETERRENT Act, giving the higher education community the opportunity to continue to work on a more reasonable approach to address Congress’s concerns with foreign influence on campus.

Soundbites

• The Biden Administration continues to make new updates available on the timing of upcoming rulemaking actions. The Department of Labor is now scheduled to publish its final rule on overtime pay in April 2024, and the rule will likely take effect 60 days after publication. Meanwhile, the Department of Education announced that it was once again delaying proposed rules that would address discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Designed to address antisemitic and anti-Arab harassment, the proposed rules were originally scheduled to be released this month, but they are now delayed until December 2024.

• Congress continues to express concerns about antisemitic incidents on campus. Within the past week, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce vowed to investigate the three universities whose leaders testified before Congress last week, and committee Chair Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) launched a committee-run email address to collect reports of antisemitism on campus. In addition, during mark-up of an education research bill, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions approved an amendment to the bill that would strip federal funding from schools that “promote” antisemitism.
   
  Finally, the full House of Representatives passed a resolution to condemn both the rise of antisemitism on college campuses and the testimony of the three university presidents at last week’s hearing for their “failure to clearly state that calls for the genocide of Jews constitute harassment and violate their institutions’ codes of conduct.”

• The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed both the House and Senate without the DETTERENT Act The next steps related to the DETERRENT Act will take place in the Senate, where it has been introduced by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and is moving on a slower track.

• NAICU joined others in the higher education community in sending a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the State Department to extend and make permanent the authority to waive the in-person interview requirement for certain nonimmigrant visa applicants. The waiver, which was established in 2022 as the country emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and is set to expire at the end of the year, has allowed for faster processing for international students and scholars applying for F-1 and J-1 visas to study and complete research in the U.S.

• The Department of Education has awarded $93 million in grants to 20 colleges and universities to support research and development and improve completion rates for underserved students. The grants are part of the Research and Development Infrastructure (RDI) and the Postsecondary Student Success Grant (PSSG) programs. The RDI program supports research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, and Minority-Serving Institutions, and the PSSG program promotes equity in postsecondary student outcomes. Awarded schools include NAICU members Hampton University and Saint Peter’s University.

Finally, the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) convened a summit in Washington, DC this week to discuss the future of the federal-state partnership on higher education. The summit included state legislators from across the country, each of whom invited a guest from their state’s higher education sector, joined by representatives from higher education national organizations, think tanks, Biden Administration officials, and Members of Congress.

I was pleased that two NAICU-member presidents were invited by their state lawmaker to participate: Matt Thompson from Kansas Wesleyan University and Darrell Williams from Hampton University. In addition, NAICU was represented by Chris Peace, President of the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia, who is also a former state lawmaker. All three participants cogently articulated the importance of ensuring that low- and middle-income students who rely on federal financial aid continue to have the ability to choose the institutions that best fit their needs—including those in the private non-profit sector.

This was an extremely productive week for all corners of the NAICU membership. Your advocacy and engagement have been so important on so many issues. We’re nearing the end of the year, but we just heard that the Senate will be staying in session next week, so our work continues right up to the holidays.

Regards,
  
Barbara
   
Barbara K. Mistick, D.M.
President, NAICU