Dear Colleagues,

This week, first generation students were honored and celebrated across the country when Congress proclaimed Wednesday, November 8 to be National First-Generation College Celebration Day. Interestingly, the House of Representatives has chosen next week to consider an appropriations bill that eliminates funding for Federal Work-Study and Supplemental Opportunity Grants and puts resources critical to first generation students, low-income students, and others in jeopardy. 

Also problematic are a series of proposed amendments to the bill that would eliminate Pell Grants, cut off all student aid funding and other funding, such as National Institutes of Health, to any private college or university that is currently subject to the endowment tax, and prohibit such funding to any institution with scholarships based on race. These are among a slew of other proposals that use federal student aid funds to tell colleges how to address a vast array of hot topics facing our nation. 

The various amendments, as well as the underlying funding bill, must go before the Rules Committee for consideration on Monday to be taken up on the House floor. Given the broader question of whether any funding bill will be considered by the House, or if Congress will instead pass a Continuing Resolution to avoid a government shutdown on November 17, we are currently working to try and convince the Rules Committee of the flaws in both the bill and the amendments. Our most fundamental argument is that if this bill is passed in its current form and the most problematic amendments are made in order and approved, they would undermine choice in higher education for low- and moderate-income students.

I will have more details on this next week.

We have a bit of good news for our many campuses that have questions about the notices they are receiving regarding borrower defense to repayment (BDR) claims. This week, the Department of Education sent a notice to institutions providing context to these claims. We provide more detail in our story below and will discuss this topic during our webinar on Tuesday (see below), but the bottom line is that most BDR notices schools are receiving are part of the implementation of a recent class-action lawsuit, nearly every college in the country will receive at least one BDR claim, and receiving a notice does not mean the claims have merit. 

On a more disappointing note, we are hearing rumors that while the new FAFSA will be released in December, and we will have an exact date soon, the processing time once the FAFSA is filled out by students could be slowed significantly from the past. We will keep you informed as more information becomes available.

Soundbites

• NAICU Webinar: A reminder that NAICU will be hosting the first in its series of webinars (REGISTER) addressing the Regulatory Gauntlet emanating from the Biden Administration. This first webinar will highlight the new regulations on institutional accountability and begin to prepare you to be ready for July 1, 2024, when these new regulations will take effect.

• The Department of Labor (DOL) received over 25,000 comments on its overtime rule proposal. NAICU submitted, along with 43 of our state and Secretariat member associations, joint comments. NAICU also signed onto higher education community comments written by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) and employer community comments drafted by the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO). 

• In response to an increase in reported instances of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on college campuses, the Department of Education issued another round of guidance reminding institutions of their legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The guidance reiterates that Title VI’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin may also protect students who experience discrimination based on their actual or perceived: (1) shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics; or (2) citizenship or residency in a country with a dominant religion, such as Jewish or Muslim students. The new guidance builds on previous efforts by the Biden Administration to address discrimination under Title VI.

• The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing examining free speech on college campuses, as well as rising incidents of anti-Semitism. The hearing, which was repeatedly interrupted by protesters supporting Palestine, featured testimony from conservative students who alleged that their speech was suppressed and witnesses who described the impact of rising anti-Semitic incidents on campus. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle condemned anti-Semitic threats and violence, though Democrats did not appear to gain any Republican support for their proposal to increase funding for the Department of Education for purposes of enforcement.

• The House Education and the Workforce Committee marked up the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, which was written to combat malign foreign influence on college campuses. The bill amends the existing Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which has not been updated in decades, to greatly expand reporting requirements for colleges and universities that receive any gifts or contracts from foreign countries. The DETERRENT Act is a bipartisan bill, reflecting the widespread concern on Capitol Hill about foreign influence on campuses that includes – but is not limited to – research security. All types of institutions of higher education are currently required to report under Section 117 and should be aware of the proposed changes being made.

• The 5^th Circuit of Appeals heard oral arguments this week on the legal challenge from Career Colleges and Schools of Texas (CCST) to the Department of Education’s new borrower defense to repayment (BDR) and closed school discharge rules that went into effect in July. The panel of three judges appeared unconvinced by the Department’s arguments and criticized several aspects of the rules, with particular focus on how broad the relief is designed to be.

In a separate action, an administrative law judge at the Department granted DeVry University’s request to pause the agency’s attempt to recoup more than $23 million to offset some of the $71.7 million in student loans the Department discharged last year under borrower defense to repayment. The decision seemed to have been spurred by the CCST’s filing. The final outcome of the CCST case could have a significant impact on the Department’s ability to move forward on BDR claims filed since November 2022.

In addition to the stories above, today’s Washington Update reports on the second of three negotiated rulemaking sessions that took place this week regarding student loan debt relief.

Finally, and more importantly, today we celebrate our Veterans. Thank you to those who have served our nation here and around the world. The sacrifices made by our Veterans and their friends and families are critical to protecting our safety and the values we as a country hold so dear. We think of our Veterans with pride today and every day. 

In observance of Veterans Day, NAICU’s offices will be closed today.

Regards,

Barbara

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