Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick

Dear Colleagues:

NAICU’s government relations team continues to review and analyze the hundreds of pages of new regulatory proposals from the Department of Education to assess its potential impact on higher education. To provide added input and additional clarification, we hosted a webinar earlier this week with Deputy Under Secretary Ben Miller and Deputy Under Secretary and Chief Economist Jordan Matsudaira to help us gain a better understanding of the Department’s expectations.

Judging by the number of questions that participants asked during the webinar – the most questions we have received in any NAICU webinar to date – there are still many uncertainties and concerns about the ramifications of these proposals. Here are several resources from the webinar:

• The full recording of the webinar
• NAICU’s overview presentation slides of the regulatory package
• NAICU’s regulatory summary (updated 6/8/23)
• The Department’s fact sheet on gainful employment and transparency
• The Department’s fact sheet on other key issues

In my June 1 Action Alert, I referenced the very short 30-day comment period that the Department has established to provide input on these proposals. While we are formally seeking an extension with the Secretary, we also asked Ben and Jordan whether one is being considered. Based on their response, it appears unlikely that the comment period will be extended beyond the current June 20 deadline. NAICU is working with the higher education community on formulating a sector-wide response while simultaneously crafting our own set of comments tailored to independent higher education. We will keep you updated as those comments are finalized.

Soundbites

• On Wednesday, President Biden vetoed the effort to block his student loan forgiveness plan, bringing an end to the Republican-led effort to strike down the program, which would cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loans. However, action moves to the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on the legality of the President’s program later this month.

• NAICU joined the higher education community in signing on to a comment letter that addressed proposed changes to Section 117 of the Higher Education Act and the tracking and reporting of foreign gifts on campus. The letter goes into specific details about concerns the higher education community have with the proposed changes and states broadly: “While we have engaged extensively with the Department (of Education) on the creation and implementation of the Information Collection Request (ICR), we continue to believe the system would be more useful if the Department more fully engaged directly with the stakeholder community in creating processes and answering questions about current Section 117 requirements.” 

• NAICU also joined the higher education community in signing onto a comment letter to the Office of Science and Technology Policy addressing proposed guidance on research security standards. Broadly, the comments focused on the research security program standard requirement under the topics of (1) equity, (2) clarity, (3) feasibility, (4) burden, and (5) compliance. More specifically, the letter zeroed in on the broad impacts of the draft requirement, and its impact on the larger higher education community, including under-resourced institutions and those institutions that may not yet be “covered research organizations.”

NAICU will keep you updated on issues related to the Department’s regulatory proposals and provide a copy of our written comments once those are finalized. Thank you for your continued advocacy on behalf of private, nonprofit higher education and the students we serve.

For more information, please contact:
Barbara K. Mistick