Dear Colleagues,

This morning, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-Health and Human Services-Education is marking up its FY 2024 funding bill, which is expected to keep the Pell Grant maximum level at $7,395, but eliminate funding for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Federal-Work Study. 

If enacted, these cuts would be devastating to low-income students who rely on the campus-based partnership with the federal government for additional grant aid and a job during the school year to help pay for college.

Because of the tight statutory spending caps enacted in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the subcommittee is working with $64 billion less than last year, which is forcing deep cuts to student aid and other important programs for higher education. We will share program funding levels and analysis once the mark-up is complete and we know more details about the bill.

Yesterday, the Department of Labor sent a proposed rule that would change the criteria for exemptions to federal overtime pay requirements to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review. This is a required initial step in the regulatory process.

There is no information on the substance of the proposed changes or how long OIRA will take to review the regulation, but commencing OIRA review now increases the chances that the Labor Department will release the proposed rule during the August 2023 target date set forth in the Spring 2023 regulatory agenda. We’ll keep you informed as this process moves forward.

This morning, NAICU will host a webinar on the recent high court decision on admissions: Supreme Court Ruling: Race-Conscious Admissions from 11:00 a.m. to Noon EDT. Art Coleman, managing partner and co-founder of EducationCounsel LLC, and one of the foremost national experts on this issue, will join me for a robust discussion. (Register)

In addition, just days after the Court’s ruling, advocacy groups filed a Title VI complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Education, alleging that Harvard University’s legacy admissions policy, which favors children of alumni and donors, discriminates against minority students. See more about this development in the article below.

Finally, on Tuesday, I will be sending member presidents an invitation to join the College Cost Transparency Initiative, an effort to provide students financial aid information that is clear, accurate, and transparent about the cost of college. The letter will explain the guiding principles and minimal standards to be used when developing aid offers and request a campus commitment to the effort.

Soundbites

• This week NAICU joined the higher education community in submitting comments to the Education Department regarding a working group focused on enhancing the quality, comparability, and usefulness of the IPEDS Financial Survey data. The community emphasized the importance of institutional representation (including smaller colleges), data providers with accounting standards experience (GASB, FASB), transparency around deliberations, and feedback opportunities. The Department will soon review recommendations and begin the process to establish the working group.

I hope you find some time this summer to get away from campus to relax and recharge. I want to thank you for all that you do to support NAICU and private, nonprofit higher education.