Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday marked the official end to the Covid 19 pandemic national emergency. By NAICU’s unofficial count, this declaration came in the 165^th week of the pandemic. It has been so satisfying to see how you have survived and persevered during Covid and continued your missions to serve your students and communities. While the emergency may be declared over, we know the impact will continue to be felt for some time. It has been your hard work, and that of your campus community, that has allowed us to persist through this unprecedented crisis.

A reminder that our government relations team recently hosted a webinar (recording and presentation slides) to highlight some of the topics you should be aware of as Washington works to wind down pandemic flexibilities. 

In other news, I was invited to attend and participate in the Department of Education’s most recent Raise the Bar event here in Washington. The agenda was focused on data and student outcomes, a conversation we are always pleased to participate in, especially since our sector continues to have the best outcomes and stories to tell when it comes to student success. I was pleased to be joined at the event by representatives from NAICU member institutions Mercy College, Clark Atlanta University, and Dillard University.

Yesterday, Secretary Cardona met with the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee for a hearing on the Administration’s request for FY 2024 education funding. The generally friendly tone of the hearing highlighted support for Pell Grants, concern about getting student loan repayment back on track, and continued student support for academic recovery from the pandemic.

Finally, I will be speaking with Secretary Cardona next week regarding issues related to transfer of credit. We have so many positive stories to tell about the work and partnerships that are happening on credit transfer and I am looking forward to relaying them to the Secretary.

Soundbites

• In a May 10 Dear College letter, Secretary Cardona reached out to college and university leaders and school district leaders, asking them to work together on the National Partnership for Student Success The White House is holding a virtual briefing (register) on May 24, at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Last summer, the Department encouraged institutions that receive Federal-Work Study funds to increase community service for students by providing tutoring, mentoring, and other support for Pre-K-12 students either in-school or in after-school programs. The Administration’s goal is to get 250,000 more tutors to help students recover from pandemic learning loss.

This week’s Washington Update reports on legislation to repeal student loan forgiveness, Congressional action that seeks to make permanent the temporary expansion of SNAP eligibility for college students, improvements being made to the public service loan forgiveness program, and the upcoming deadline to submit comments to the Department of Education regarding the reporting of foreign gifts.