Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick

Dear Colleagues,

It has been another whirlwind week in Washington as President Trump drives change throughout the federal government at lightning speed. This week, higher education was in the spotlight with proposed cuts to National Institutes of Health funding as well as deep cuts to the Department of Education’s Institute for Education Statistics which has conducted decades of nonpartisan educational research.

To help you keep track of the Executive Orders, NAICU has produced a fact sheet describing the Executive Orders affecting higher education. You can find more details in the Soundbite below.

While the funding cuts were the big headlines, much more is happening of particular interest to our mission at NAICU. 

First, Linda McMahon had her confirmation hearing yesterday for Secretary of Education. It was a partisan affair reflecting the overall tensions around President Trump’s recent executive orders, funding freezes, and proposal to eliminate the Department of Education. Her confirmation vote has been scheduled for next week. 

Most importantly for us, though, were the markups by the House and Senate Budget Committees on reconciliation. It is clear from the House proposals that the College Cost Reduction Act is still very much on the table. This is the bill we fought so hard against at the end of the last Congress because of its proposals to eliminate Grad and Parent PLUS loans and impose risk sharing on colleges and universities. The family and student educational tax benefits and expansion of the endowment tax also continue to be at risk.

Reconciliation will play out over the next month or so. We already know our Advocacy Day last week had a strong effect with more members of Congress aware of some of the negative consequences various proposals could have on our institutions, students, and communities. 

I urge you to keep up the conversations with your elected officials. NAICU will be issuing an Action Alert early next week outlining some of the steps you can take to use your influence with your elected officials. I urge maximum engagement from every member to keep the conversations going. We are at a turning point with respect to federal funding for higher education, and it is up to you to explain to a new generation of leaders why support for our students is still a great investment in America’s future.

I invite you to read more about these issues in our articles below.

Soundbites

• Executive Order Summary: NAICU has produced a Fact Sheet describing the Executive Orders affecting higher education and explaining what they mean for your campus. We will continue to update the document as the process evolves.
• FAFSA Comment Period for Next Cycle: Last week, the Department of Education announced the opening of the public comment period for the 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Draft versions of the FAFSA form, submission summary, and list of enhancements are available. Interested parties may provide comments until April 7 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
• NAICU Endorses Sen. Ernst Bill on FAFSA and Farms: NAICU endorsed Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) bipartisan Family Farm and Small Business Exemption Act that would roll back recent changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid’s (FAFSA) need analysis that harmed students with family farms or small businesses. Prior to last year, the FAFSA did not include family farms or small businesses as assets. By counting these assets under the new formula, the amount of financial assistance these students are eligible for decreases significantly.
• Kent Nominated for Education Under Secretary: President Trump has nominated Nicholas Kent, former deputy secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Virginia, to be the under secretary of education. Kent also spent time as the chief policy officer at Career Education Colleges and Universities. Other recent personnel nominations and announcements include: Kimberly Richey, assistant secretary for civil rights, Mary Christina Riley, assistant secretary of legislative and congressional affairs; and James Bergeron, deputy undersecretary.
• NIL Guidance Revoked: The Department of Education revoked guidance on Title IX and NIL-related compensation and benefits that the Biden Administration issued in its final days. Although the Biden Administration’s guidance largely ducked the question of whether Title IX applies to NIL compensation provided to students by third parties, the Trump Administration stated that Title IX does not apply in such circumstances and therefore rescinded the guidance.

On a sad note, we learned last Friday that John D. Phillips, the founding president of NAICU, had passed away at the age of 86. John had a lifelong passion for education and was an advocate for expanding access to higher education. As deputy commissioner of higher education at the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, he was instrumental in drafting legislation that established and expanded direct student financial aid programs. As NAICU president from 1976 to 1986, he played a pivotal role in shaping federal student aid programs and laid the foundation for nearly 50 years of our advocacy for preserving institutional independence, ensuring equitable treatment of our sector, preserving and protecting student aid funding, defending the sector’s tax exempt status, and seeking appropriate accountability and regulatory parameters.

For more information, please contact:
Barbara K. Mistick