Below is an abridged version of RAMC’s weekly Washington Wrap Up. Find out more about Wrap Up and other RAMC resources here.

April 25, 2024

ADMINISTRATION

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on student loan forgiveness. There is a 30-day period for public comment on this NPRM.

ED announced that some duplicate Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) were delivered to institution mailboxes during the afternoon and evening of April 16 and that it is currently working to resolve this issue.

ED announced a new path for student loan borrowers who are incarcerated to exit default through loan consolidation.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
Penn Hill Group provides a list of grant opportunities and summaries for select grants. Please visit our website for more information.

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

In a Disastrous Year, States That Mandate FAFSA Completion Fared a Bit Better [The 74]

Lifetime college returns differ significantly by major, research finds [Higher Ed Dive]

Biden Administration Finalizes Overtime Rule [Inside Higher Ed]

Police arrest NYU antiwar protesters; Calif. students form barricade [The Washington Post]

University of North Carolina System Set to Repeal DEI Policy [The 74]

Op-Ed: Elise Stefanik, Dean of Faculty [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

Paychecks, Drafts and Firings: The Possible Future of College Sports [The New York Times]

‘I Have Never Seen Campus Like This’ [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

Colleges, the Title IX Changes Are Finally Here. What’s in Them? [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

To better serve first-generation students, expand the definition [The Hechinger Report]

Columbia Told Congress It Would Crack Down on Student Protests. Now It Has. [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

Columbia officials dodge pitfalls that caught Harvard, Penn [The Hill]

‘We are not hospice’: The race to get faster in predicting college shutdowns [Higher Ed Dive]

Committee News and Schedule, Schedule for House and Senate Floor:

Senate Majority Leader

Press Release: Majority Leader Schumer’s CHIPS And Science Law Delivers Historic $6.1 Billion Grant For Micron

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

Press Release: Ranking Member Cassidy Rebukes Biden’s New Overtime Rule Eliminating Jobs, Raising Prices on Families

Press Release: Ranking Member Cassidy on Ongoing Antisemitic Attacks, Harassment of Jewish Students on College Campuses, Renews Call for Action

House Committee on Education and the Workforce

Press Release: WATCH: Chair Foxx at Columbia University

Press Release: Is Biden Illegally Consolidating Student Loans?

Press Release: Foxx: ED’s Final Title IX Rule Blights the Futures of Women and Girls

Press Release: Ranking Member Scott Statement on Final Title IX Regulations

Press Release: Hearing Recap: Columbia University Edition

Statements and Webcast from Yesterday’s Full Committee Hearing on “Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Antisemitism”

U.S. Department of Education and the Administration

White House Press Release: Following Up on the Four Priorities of President Biden’s Workforce Strategy

ED Blog: Recapping the FAFSA Week of Action: Thanks to All Who Took a #FAFSAFastBreak!

ED Media Advisory: U.S. Secretary of Education to Visit Little Rock, Arkansas, to Join Debt Forgiveness Roundtable and Visit FAFSA Clinic

ED Blog: Made for Our Times: Mobility, Vibrancy, and the Next 123 Years of the Community College Movement

IES Press Release: From the Acting IES Director: Building an Inclusive R&D Ecosystem

Legislative Movement in Congress:

H.R.7323 — To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to disapprove courses of education offered by a public institution of higher learning that does not charge the in-State tuition rate to a veteran using certain educational assistance under title 10 of such Code.

Sponsor: Van Orden, Derrick [Rep.-R-WI-3] (Introduced 02/13/2024) Cosponsors: (1)

Committees: House – Veterans’ Affairs; Armed Services

Latest Action: House – 04/17/2024 Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

H.R.8050 — To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to support and strengthen outcomes for student parents through the provision of child care services, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Moran, Nathaniel [Rep.-R-TX-1] (Introduced 04/17/2024) Cosponsors: (0)

Committees: House – Education and the Workforce

Latest Action: House – 04/17/2024 Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

H.R.3724 — Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2023

Sponsor: Owens, Burgess [Rep.-R-UT-4] (Introduced 05/25/2023) Cosponsors: (3)

Committees: House – Education and the Workforce

Latest Action: House – 04/23/2024 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 386.

H.Res.1169 — Commending and congratulating the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team, the UConn Huskies, for winning the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Championship, and commending and congratulating the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team for securing a place in the Final Four.

Sponsor: Courtney, Joe [Rep.-D-CT-2] (Introduced 04/23/2024) Cosponsors: (4)

Committees: House – Education and the Workforce

Latest Action: House – 04/23/2024 Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

S.4139 — A bill to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a digital skills at work grant program.

Sponsor: Kaine, Tim [Sen.-D-VA] (Introduced 04/17/2024) Cosponsors: (0)

Committees: Senate – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Latest Action: Senate – 04/17/2024 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Press Release: Spanberger, Kaine, Valadao Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Effort to Expand Digital Skills in Workforce Training

Federal Education Training and Grant Opportunities, Notices:

ED Comment Request: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2024-25 Through 2026-27. Comments due on or before May 3, 2024.

ED Comment Request: Application for Flexibility for Equitable Per-Pupil Funding. Comments due on or before May 10, 2024.

ED Comment Request: The Title VI Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) Program Application (1894-0001). Comments due on or before May 20, 2024.

ED Comment Request: Income Driven Repayment Plan Request for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans and Federal Family Education Loan Programs. Comments due on or before June 17, 2024.

ED Notice: Annual Notice of Interest Rates for Variable-Rate Federal Student Loans Made Under the Federal Family Education Loan Program Prior to July 1, 2010.

ED Comment Request: Pell Grant Reporting Under the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System