A quick look back at the news from last week. Compiled by Penn Hill Group.

HOUSE and SENATE

The House and Senate will be in recess until the week of November 14.

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) sent a letter urging the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to use current statutory authority under the Higher Education Act to restore Pell Grant eligibility to students impacted by the closures of ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges.

ADMINISTRATION

The White House released a Fact Sheet on the expansion of the Opportunity Project and the launch of 29 new digital tools that aim to increase access to information and opportunities.

Former ED Secretary Arne Duncan wrote an open letter to America’s college presidents and education school deans urging them increase the rigor of their teacher training programs.

ED Secretary John King announced that College Scorecard information will now show up on the results page of Google searches of individual institutions of higher education, rather than having to be accessed solely from the Administration’s College Scorecard webpage.

ED released the annual notice of interest rates for Federal student loans made under the Federal Direct Loan program prior to July 1, 2013 as well as the annual notice of variable interest rates of Federal student loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan program prior to July 1, 2010.

Education News Headlines
[Click on the link to read the article online]

Op-Ed: After years of neglect, public higher education is at a tipping point [Article 7 – The Washington Post]

Op-Ed: When states make higher education decisions despite the evidence [Article 8 – The Hill]

How we’re zeroing in on student loan defaults [Article 10 – The Hill]

Universities are not ‘trade schools,’ but they should prepare students for the workforce [Article 11 – The Washington Post]

Hundreds of colleges, many for-profits, seek a new accreditor [Article 8 – Inside Higher Ed]

College admission counselors raise concerns over packaging of PLUS loans to students’ parents [Article 10 – Inside Higher Ed]

‘Long overdue’: Colleges needed lower standard of evidence in sexual assault cases, an advocate says [Article 9 – The Washington Post]

Adjunct vulnerability is at the heart of the safe-space debate [Article 10 – The Atlantic]

Clinton Campaign Criticizes Mandatory Arbitration [Article 4 – Inside Higher Ed]
 

U.S. Department of Education and the Administration
Department of Education

• Media Advisory: U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. to Visit Los Angeles to Discuss Higher Education Issues
• Blog: Sustainability as a Mechanism for School Engagement

Federal Education Training and Grant Opportunities, Notices

ED Comment Request: Accrediting Agencies Reporting Activities for Institutions and Programs. Comments due November 10, 2016.