Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick
Dear Colleagues,
Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a safe and healthy holiday season. While Washington, and many other parts of the country, is digging out from a winter storm, the Biden Administration is diligently working to get many of its priorities across the finish line while President-elect Trump and Republican leaders are mapping out their agenda for the coming months.
The 118th Congress officially came to a close last week, and thanks to the advocacy efforts of our sector, the College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA), which included excessive risk sharing for private, nonprofit institutions, did not pass. With Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) named as the new chair of the House Education Committee, it will be up to him to decide which parts of the bill he might want to reintroduce, modify, or leave behind. Thanks to those who raised concerns with their representatives about the provisions contained in the CCRA.
The 119th Congress is now officially underway, with Republicans controlling both chambers for the first time in six years. Once the dust settled on the speaker’s race and the presidential election was certified, the conversation inside the beltway turned to how to use the budget reconciliation process to pass a major package of Republican priorities.
Budget reconciliation is a fast-track process that bypasses the Senate rules on filibuster and allows a measure to pass Congress through simple majorities in each chamber. There are special limits on what can be included in any such bill and how many times the process can be used each year. Right now, the debate has turned to whether to do one big reconciliation bill that includes as many of the president’s priorities as possible, including major tax legislation, or whether to separate the provisions into at least two pieces of legislation.
Either way, higher education proposals such as new student loan limits, expansion of the endowment tax, and institutional risk-sharing are all potential candidates for any reconciliation bill, and our sector will have to continue to focus on our collective advocacy efforts. President-elect Trump is hosting a meeting at Mar-a-Lago this weekend for many Republican leaders, in part to discuss what the advantages and disadvantages are to differing legislative approaches.
As I’ve written previously, NAICU’s Advocacy Day will take on even greater importance when we meet for our Annual Meeting & Advocacy Day, February 2-5, 2025. Congress will be considering or starting to frame its thinking on: appropriations priorities, including federal student aid funding; student loan risk sharing for institutions; items for inclusion in a large-scale tax bill, like new taxes on nonprofits and an expansion of the endowment tax; deregulation; and other proposals that will impact independent higher education for years to come.
In the meantime, Biden is still president, and the Department of Education is still churning out last minute tidbits before his term officially ends. Most significant is a final regulatory package on return to Title IV, distance education, and the federal TRIO programs. These rules, which resulted from a negotiated rulemaking last year, will go into effect on July 1, 2026. NAICU will provide a full analysis of these regulations in the coming weeks, but from our initial review, it appears that many of the most controversial proposals have been dropped from the final regulations. Our soundbites and the lede story below cover more detail on other regulatory actions.
Soundbites
- Stop Hazing Act. Institutions must now begin collecting hazing statistics, starting on January 1, for purposes of the Stop Campus Hazing Act’s new Clery reporting requirements. The bill’s effective dates vary for other requirements, with new hazing policy requirements becoming effective six months after the date of enactment and new hazing transparency reporting requirements beginning on July 1, 2025.
- Students with Disabilities. The Department of Education released new guidance reiterating an institution’s legal obligation to provide accommodations to students with disabilities under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Specifically, the guidance emphasizes that institutions must individually assess each student’s need for accommodations in an interactive process and provides examples illustrating how to comply.
- FVT Income Thresholds. The Department of Education released a table of the median earnings thresholds to be used in the framework’s Earnings Premium (EP) measure. For institutions to pass the EP test, the median annual earnings of their graduates must be greater than the median earnings thresholds provided by the Department.
- New FAFSA Resources. The Department of Education has a new resource to support student and family outreach, particularly with non-English speaking students and families. It is publishing a set of FAFSA guides for non-English speakers in the 10 most spoken languages in the U.S. outside of English and Spanish, in addition to making interpretive services available in these languages. The first set of guides (in Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese, French, and Korean) are now available and the remaining (German, Russian, and French Creole) will be published soon. The Department also released three new video resources: Pro Tips for Completing the FAFSA Form, Federal Student Aid YouTube Channel: FAFSA Videos, and 2025–26 Counselor Resource for Completing the FAFSA Form.
- DHS Campus Safety Webinar. The Department of Homeland Security is hosting a safety webinar on February 6, from 11:30-1:00 p.m. EST, to share information about security planning, resilience hubs for campuses and surrounding communities, and grants and resources available to local communities to ensure the safety and security of institutions. According to DHS, the webinar is intended for college and university administrators, public safety and campus law enforcement officials, student affairs/student life representatives, and other individuals with a role in supporting community safety and the wellbeing of students.
I’d like to thank CIC President Marjorie Hass and her entire staff for hosting another terrific and informative Presidents Institute and inviting me to participate in the program. It was so nice to be with so many NAICU member presidents in San Antonio. It’s an important reminder of the value of our network and the importance of engaging in our core advocacy work with Congress and the incoming Trump Administration. As I mentioned above, the policy agenda of the incoming Congress will have a tremendous impact on our institutions, and it will be critical that we are connecting with policymakers early in the session. I look forward to seeing so many of you again in Washington, DC for our annual meeting next month.
Finally, the end of 2024 saw the passing of Jimmy Carter, the nation’s 39th president, at the age of 100. I am writing to you this week on Wednesday because President Biden proclaimed January 9 as a National Day of Mourning and closed the federal government. NAICU, which follows the federal government’s calendar, was also closed yesterday. While unlikely, if any legislative or regulatory actions occur late Wednesday or on Thursday, we will report on them on Friday or as soon as we can.
I hope you have a pleasant weekend,
Regards
Barbara
Barbara K. Mistick, D.B.A.
President, NAICU