Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick

Dear Colleagues:

The most important event on Capitol Hill this week was the House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee mark up the FY 2025 spending bill. The preliminary proposals were a mixed bag for higher education and our students. Overall, the Department of Education will face an $11 billion cut, including the proposed elimination of 17 programs (see story below for more details).

However, despite that context, the Pell Grant maximum award was maintained at $7,395. The proposed funding for the Pell Grant program is $22.5 billion and none of the program’s surplus was used to fund other programs. Unfortunately, the funding for the SEOG and FWS programs was cut in half. While this is better than the proposed elimination of these programs, as happened last year, it will mean we must once again fight to restore program funding.

With that in mind we have updated our Home and Away talking points that were sent earlier this month to reflect the need to advocate for fully funding SEOG and FWS.

In another development related to our summer advocacy efforts, NASFAA launched its own campaign this week to get the date for complying with the new financial value transparency and gainful employment (FVT/GE) regulations moved from October 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025. While NASFAA’s effort only pertains to the reporting requirements under the FVT/ GE regulations, NAICU has called for the entire regulatory package to be delayed for a year. That said, NASFAA’s advocacy work is welcome news and will hopefully help move the needle on the reporting requirement portion of the regulations.

Speaking of regulatory compliance, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, sent a letter to the Department of Labor requesting that the agency extend the July 1, 2024 implementation date for the first salary threshold increase under the new overtime rule. As Cassidy writes, “Many small businesses and educational institutions will have an extremely difficult time making the decisions about which employees to lay off and what services to cut in such a short time.” (See Soundbite below for an update on a legal challenge to the overtime rule.)

• A U.S. District Court in Texas heard oral arguments in a case brought by the Texas state Attorney General challenging the legality of the Department of Labor’s final overtime rule. The hearing focused on Texas’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the entire rule from going into effect, with the first increase in the salary threshold currently slated to go into effect on July 1, 2024. A decision on the TRO is expected before the July 1 implementation date. The court could let the rule stand or block it from applying nationwide. The judge could also choose a narrower ruling blocking implementation only for state employees in Texas. We will keep you posted on these developments.

• In light of recent protests on college campuses, the Department of Education issued a reminder about institutional responsibilities under the Clery Act. Specifically, the Department noted that protests and other incidents may affect campus safety and may be reportable under the statute as crimes. Institutions that fail to meet their Clery obligations may be subject to significant fines.

• The House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing to examine antisemitism in the workplace at institutions of higher education. Republicans on the subcommittee were particularly critical of how institutions have handled antisemitism directed at faculty and staff, as were several professors who testified. The hearing was the latest session to examine antisemitism on college campuses.

• The Department of Education issued updated guidance on the types of data it will rely on to evaluate institutions with failing gainful employment programs under the new administrative capability and financial responsibility regulations. Both provisions are part of the new regulations that go into effect on July 1.

Finally, in other Pell Grant news, earlier this week, we celebrated with Members of Congress and their staff the 52^nd birthday of the program at a reception on Capitol Hill. Since the 50^th Anniversary two years ago, this has become an annual event hosted by the Student Aid Alliance to celebrate the impact and importance of the Pell Grant program.

Home & Away Advocacy 2024

As mentioned above, we have made updates to the Student Aid Funding talking points to reflect the House committee mark up of the FY 2025 spending bill. Please consider adding the talking points regarding Pell, SEOG, and FWS to your advocacy efforts this summer. Here is the summer recess calendar:

In observance of the Independence Day holiday, there will be no edition of Washington Update next week. I hope you find time to celebrate and mark the occasion with friends, family, and your campus community.