Dear Colleagues,

It has been another challenging week in the nation’s capital as higher education has come under the microscope publicly and legislatively in a way that is both targeted and aggressive.

The House Education and Workforce Committee is looking to fast track legislation – the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act – as early as next week. The bill would create a new short-term Pell program that would be paid for by taking away federal loans from students at institutions that are subject to the endowment tax. Among other issues, the legislation would pull the rug out from middle- and lower-income students, who would end up as collateral damage in a move intended to target those institutions with large endowments.

We have alerted and are activating those institutions who are subject to the endowment tax – or on the threshold – and our state executive network to engage with their elected officials and encourage them to oppose this offset provision.

Also this week, the House passed the DETERRENT Act, despite opposition from the higher education community, which will drastically reduce the reporting threshold on foreign gifts and contracts and is likely to cause a significant burden for many of our institutions.

Congress also held another hearing focused on antisemitism on colleges campuses. The contentious hearing was the fifth such congressional inquiry in just the past four weeks.

You can read more about each of these stories below in this week’s Washington Update. 

Meanwhile, congressional leaders have been meeting behind closed doors to figure out how to finalize FY 2024 funding before the first continuing resolution (CR) expires on January 19. The current discussion revolves around the spending cap.

The latest reports indicate that the House Freedom Caucus has moved away from demanding deep cuts to FY 2022 levels and toward agreeing to fund the government at the levels set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act enacted this summer. If leaders cannot forge a bipartisan agreement on the cap, a year-long CR would be the alternative to a government shutdown.

Either of these options, however, could result in cuts to funding for the student aid programs. Your continued drumbeat of advocacy in support of increasing the Pell Grant maximum and restoring funding for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Federal Work-Study remains critical as this battle is not over yet.

Soundbites

• The Department of Education has once again delayed the publication of final rules on Title IX, the agency announced as it released an updated timeline for its regulatory plans. Both the general Title IX rules and the regulations on transgender athletes are now expected in March 2024. Other notable elements from the updated regulatory agenda include the Department’s announcement that it plans to issue final rules on student debt relief in May 2024 and proposed rules on foreign gift reporting in June 2024.

• The Department of Education also released its updated draft regulatory text for student debt relief ahead of the third and final session of negotiated rulemaking that begins next week. The categories of eligible borrowers have not changed from the earlier version, but more detail was shared on the specifics of the Department’s proposal for expanded loan forgiveness, such as threshold forgiveness amounts and eligibility requirements. NAICU is continuing to analyze this draft language and will have further updates on how negotiators react to the newest proposal following next week’s rulemaking session.

• Finally, the Department of Education announced the forgiveness of $4.8 billion in student loans for over 80,000 borrowers. More than $2 billion of this forgiveness is for nearly 46,000 borrowers through fixes to accurately count qualifying payments through income-driven repayment programs. The remaining $2.6 billion is for over 34,000 borrowers through the limited Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver and other improvements to the program.

Higher education is battling on several fronts in Washington right now. Your focus, engagement, and advocacy as we push to the end of the calendar year and beyond will be critically important as we continue to work to support our students and institutions. 

Regards,

Barbara

Barbara K. Mistick, D.M.
President, NAICU