NAICU Washington Update

Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick

June 30, 2022

Dear Colleagues,

Due to the July 4 holiday, Washington Update is publishing a day early this week. I hope you are able to find time for some rest and relaxation over the next few days as the country celebrates and honors its independence. 

This is also the time when official Washington takes a break from its duties here in the nation’s capital. While the Senate has already started its recess, the House of Representatives will soon follow once it has completed its committee work this week.

This period in which Members of Congress are back in their home states and districts offers an excellent time for you to continue the important advocacy work and engagement we’ve been focused on the past several weeks and months. Whether you’re hosting elected officials on campus, hearing them speak, or happen to run into them at a Fourth of July parade, these are opportunities to encourage them to support important higher education initiatives. So, if you do get some time with your elected officials during this recess, please:

  • Remind them about the impact the Pell Grant has had during its 50-year history and encourage them to support doubling the grant’s maximum award to $13,000 as soon as possible so we can put these expanded resources in the hands of students sooner rather than later; and
  • Encourage them to support the Ensuring the Best Schools for Veterans Act of 2022, which would fix the problems institutions are having with the implementation of the new 85/15 rule, by creating a true 35% waiver. If you serve veteran students, it’s important that Congress pass this legislation so it can be enacted before the August congressional recess and prior to the fall semester. See the Action Alert I sent out earlier this week for more details.

Finally, I know the new Title IX regulations are spurring questions and concerns. In addition to the preliminary reporting we did in last week’s Washington Update, our team is diligently going through and analyzing each of the 700 pages of the regulations to determine the impact they might have on our institutions. During the next two weeks, we will be providing tools and resources to help you better understand and navigate the new Title IX regulations, including:

  • Next week, we will provide a detailed analysis, including an executive summary and a technical summary of the regulations; and
  • On October 13 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT, I will be hosting a webinar with Jody Feder, NAICU’s director of accountability and regulatory affairs – and our resident Title IX expert – to provide a summary overview and answer questions you may have. (Register)

In today’s Washington Update we cover action in the House to get several appropriations bills passed, including FY 2023 funding for the student aid programs.

Soundbites

  • Last week, the Supreme Court struck down a Maine law that excluded religious schools from a state program that provided public funding for students to attend private school. According to the Court, denying eligibility for the program based on the religious character of the school “is discrimination against religion” that violates the Constitution. Although the decision in Carson v. Makin involved K-12 schools, the ruling is the latest in a line of cases, including this week’s ruling on prayer in schools, that have extended religious protections and therefore may have important implications for faith-based institutions of higher education.

Double Pell

“I think Double Pell would be a really great start.”

James Kvaal, Department of Education Undersecretary, when asked during the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators’ annual conference earlier this week what should the ideal amount be for the Pell Grant maximum award.

 

Regards,

Barbara

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

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