Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick

Dear Colleagues:

With the Congress away on its annual August recess and the President away on vacation, the pace in Washington has slowed significantly. This is in stark contrast to your campus communities, some of which have already welcomed students back for the Fall semester. The start of a new academic year is an exciting time and I hope you all have a successful year.

While things are quiet now in Washington, the next several months will be busy and we will likely be calling on you for assistance.

First, we continue to wait for the president’s signature on S. 4458, the Ensuring the Best Schools for Veterans bill which creates a true 35% waiver and fixes the regulatory problems institutions have experienced with new policy changes to the 85/15 rule issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We had hoped the bill would be signed into law this week. See more in the story below.

The Congressional agenda post Labor Day will include passage of the federal budget for FY 2023, due by October 1. It is likely that Congress will pass a continuing resolution which will enable the government to keep operating at current funding levels since none of the 12 appropriations bills that comprise the budget have been completed. We will continue our push to double the Pell Grant maximum and boost funding for other federal student aid programs.

The Departments of Education and Labor both have major regulatory changes pending this fall. We anticipate the Labor Department will announce significant changes to the overtime rules. Several education-related labor unions have pushed to eliminate the exemption for teaching professions in the new rules, which could have a significant impact on our institutions.

Meanwhile the Education Department is continuing the process required to implement the new Title IX rules announced June 23. Public comments on the proposed rules close on September 12. We are working with our colleague associations in the higher education community to write and submit comments before the deadline.

Soundbites

• The Biden Administration has set Wednesday, August 24, as a Day of Action on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), the first in a series of activities to remind borrowers that October 31 is the deadline to submit wavier applications. Employee and alumni members of your campus community may qualify for loan relief under this special waiver program.  The Education Department has produced resources you can use including a partner toolkit and an employer toolkit, both of which can be found on the Department’s stakeholder resource website. In addition, the White House has a new PSLF website with a simple 3-Step Eligibility Tool that borrowers can use. NAICU offered a special webinar on PSLF waivers earlier this summer.

• Some 208,000 student loan borrowers who attended the now defunct ITT Technical Institute (ITT) from January 1, 2005, through its closure in September 2016, learned this week that their remaining loans, totaling $3.9 billion, were forgiven in full by the Education Department. The Department also granted relief to 100 borrowers who attended the Kaplan Career Institute through the borrower defense to repayment (BDR) program and has taken action to recoup roughly $24 million from DeVry University for BDR claims. Current and proposed BDR regulations allows the Education Department to recoup funds from any institution that has approved BDR claims.
  
  These actions by the Education Department brings the total student loan forgiveness to nearly $32 billion through actions related to total and permanent disability discharge, closed school discharge, public service loan forgiveness, and BDR. The Biden Administration has yet to announce any official student loan forgiveness for all borrowers.

• NAICU has submitted comments to the Education Department and joined a community-wide letter regarding a proposed set of rules on total and permanent disability (TDP) loan discharge; closed school discharge; false certification discharge; public service loan forgiveness (PSLF); borrower defense to repayment (BDR); and interest capitalization. After review of these proposed regulations, NAICU reported our concerns and shared a plan to submit comments to ensure the Department understood how the regulations would impact the private, nonprofit sector. Comments were due by August 12 and the final rule is expected to be released by November 1st.

Yuriy Holiyat’s family came to the United States from Ukraine when he was seven. A Pell Grant has helped him pay for college and attend Fordham University. He says doubling the Pell Grant “would be graciously accepted and forever remembered.”

“Hard work has always been a pillar of my character. I know the hard work my family has put in to get me to the door of Fordham University” and now “I am working and studying to become a high performing member of society and to give back to the people that made my life possible.”

Yuriy Holiyat, student, Fordham University, NY