Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick

Dear Colleagues:

In this week’s FAFSA news, we learned colleges and universities will not be receiving Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) from the Department of Education for students who have completed the new form until early- to mid-March (see our lede story below for more details). This delay poses a deepening burden on institutions and could affect student enrollment decisions. 

The consequences are compounded by the fact that Congress has pushed back its deadline to set student aid funding levels to March 8. This delay includes postponing the decisions on the Pell Grant maximum award level and determining the fate of funding for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Federal Work-Study.

I have heard from so many NAICU members about the extraordinary efforts being taken to reassure parents and students during this difficult time. I know institutions are doing all they can with the resources they have to provide aid estimates to students and flexibility on enrollment decisions. I encourage you to continue these efforts as we pledge to you that we will continue to push Congress and the Department to help institutions that are on the front lines of this emerging crisis.

I have been in regular conversation with Department leadership about the effects these delays are having and the resulting chaos and concern campuses and families are facing. I was pleased to be joined this week by 51 NAICU member associations in a letter to all members of the Senate and House to express our deep concerns with the effects these two delays are having on students and institutions. This will also be our top policy message to Congress during our national Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill next Tuesday. 

Also this week, the House Education & the Workforce Committee marked up the College Cost Transparency Act and approved it by party line vote (see second story below for more details). While the overall bill remains problematic, the legislation does have some important improvements such as the restoration of SEOG (but not its funding), an opportunity for institutions to apply for increased loan limits (but no guarantees of approval), and restoration of consideration of family farms and small businesses under the new need analyses formula. While these are modest changes compared to the broader issues in the legislation, they do illustrate the importance of individual constituents’ weighing in on proposals that can have a negative effect on institutions and students. 

We are just two days away from the start of our 2024 Annual Meeting & Advocacy Day activities, which begin on Sunday afternoon. We have nearly 450 registered attendees, which I think is a testament not only to the program we have assembled but also to the fact that we are facing challenges on several fronts that will have lasting impacts on higher education and need our attention.

This is a critical time for our sector, and we must be persistent, insistent, and persuasive in our communications to leaders in Washington. We have prepared thorough materials and talking points for attendees to help with this outreach. We will also make these resources available after the meeting ends.

There is important and serious work to be accomplished. But we also have much to celebrate. In addition to just being able to gather in-person once again, I am pleased to tell you that NAICU is honoring Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, CM, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) and Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) for their longstanding and significant contributions to private, nonprofit higher education. Fr. Holtschneider will receive the 2024 Henry Paley Award and Rep. Kilmer will be honored with the 2024 Award for Advocacy for Independent Higher Education. I look forward to celebrating their many contributions to our sector.

Soundbites

• The Department of Education announced that it will continue the negotiated rulemaking process on student debt relief, which concluded last December, with an additional two-day session focused solely on how best to deliver student loan relief to borrowers experiencing hardship. This extension will focus particular attention on which circumstances should qualify as hardship. The sessions will take place on February 22 and 23. The Department will post updated proposals online a week before the sessions begin.

• Congressional leadership reached agreement on the allocations each of the 12 appropriations subcommittees will receive—an important step forward if Congress is to make its FY 2024 funding decisions before its new March 1 and March 8 deadlines. The March 8 deadline affects the funding bill for federal student aid for the coming academic year. Until the funding levels are set for the Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and Federal Work-Study, institutions cannot package aid for students, a problem further exacerbated by the extended FAFSA delays. NAICU President Barbara Mistick, along with 51 NAICU member associations, sent a letter to Congress detailing how the combined FAFSA delays and lack of funding by Congress is creating havoc for students, families, and institutions.

• The Department of Education kicks off the second of three rounds of Program Integrity and Institutional Quality negotiated rulemaking next week. In anticipation of the upcoming conversations, the Department released a new round of discussion papers on the items on the agenda, including papers on regulations governing accreditation, state authorization, distance education, cash management, return of Title IV funds (R2T4), and TRIO. NAICU will be closely monitoring the negotiations.

Thank you for your continued commitment to independent higher education. I look forward to seeing so many members next week during our meeting. 

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

For more information, please contact:
Barbara K. Mistick