Dear Colleagues,

It was announced this week that the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act (H.R. 6585), would be considered on the House floor next week under suspension of the chamber’s rules. The bill creates a short-term Pell program for workforce training with a problematic offset that punishes the private colleges and universities paying the endowment tax. 

When this bill passed the House Education & the Workforce Committee in December, the offset would have stripped federal loans from students attending institutions paying the endowment tax. In response to opposition to the offset, it was modified to no longer strip loans from students but instead hold institutions paying the tax responsible for loan program costs for their students. We remain steadfastly opposed to this offset and I sent a letter to every House office urging a “No” vote on the bill if the offset remains in place. 

Since this bill is being considered under suspension, it bypasses the Rules Committee and must get the approval of two-thirds of the House to pass.

In other news, Congress is one week away from the first of the two spending deadlines (March 1 and March 8) on the latest continuing resolutions for FY2024 appropriations. We are hearing that controversial policy riders are holding up final negotiations across many of the bills, while a small group of House members is reconsidering a long-term continuing resolution to activate the across-the-board cuts in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Even with agreed to spending levels, what passes the House is not guaranteed to pass the Senate. Unfortunately, completion of FY 2024 appropriations does not look smooth. All signs point to either the need for another set of short-term CRs or a government shutdown.

Soundbites

• Earlier this week, the Department of Education requested public comment on its list of reporting requirements for the new Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment regulations. The list includes the required data elements that institutions will need to provide to the Department to comply with the new rules, as well as a broad overview of some of the mechanisms through which schools may report. It is our understanding that interested parties must submit comments before April 22, 2024. However, NAICU is seeking clarification on this date from the Department as the notification also references March 22 as the submission deadline. 

• Today is the final day of the Department of Education’s fourth and final session of the negotiated rulemaking session on Student Loan Debt Relief. Once finished, the two-day session will have covered the definition of “hardship,” with a focus on determining under which circumstances a borrower would be eligible for student loan relief. NAICU will provide more detailed reporting on this final session next week.

• The Department of Education announced the cancellation of $1.2 billion in student debt for almost 153,000 borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) income-driven repayment plan. The SAVE plan provides a shortened forgiveness timeline for borrowers who took out lower amounts of debt. This is the first round of debt cancellation based on that timeline.

• NAICU joined other higher education associations in submitting community comments to the Department of Labor (DOL) regarding the proposed expansion of Schedule A of the permanent labor certification process, which could help with hiring international researchers and faculty and encourage international students to study in the U.S. The comments reflect our support for DOL’s interest in modernizing and improving an expedited sponsorship program, such as an expanded Schedule A, to include Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics (STEM) occupations. Adjusting to allow employers seeking STEM candidates to bypass cumbersome labor market testing and application processes will help support innovation and research competitiveness at U.S. colleges and universities.

Today’s Washington Update reports on the interim solution the Department of Education announced that will help students submit their FAFSA if they have a contributor who does not have a Social Security Number.

Regards,

Barbara

Barbara K. Mistick, D.B.A.
President, NAICU