Dear Colleagues,

While Congress has left Washington for its summer recess, there are still several key issues we’re tracking as your senators and representatives head back home to their states and districts. Key among them are the cuts to the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) and Federal Work-Study (FWS).

As we’ve reported, the House proposes to eliminate both SEOG and FWS while the Senate included $10 million cuts to each program (see the Action Alert I sent earlier this week and our lede story below for more details). While the cuts to SEOG and FWS in the Senate proposal seem small in comparison to the budgets of those two programs, and in comparison to the House eliminating them completely, they signal policymaker’s willingness to put these two core programs on the chopping block. This could be a troubling sign when the proposals go to conference in the fall.

This is why it’s paramount that you contact your congressional delegation while they are home during the next several weeks. They need to hear your vocal support for the programs and also the impact that deep cuts to – or eliminating – SEOG and FWS would have on your students and their communities.

Also reported on in this week’s issue is the introduction of the College Cost Transparency Initiative, which I serve on as a member of its task force. The initiative is designed to bring more clarity and transparency for students and families regarding their financial aid awards. In conjunction with nine other major national higher education associations, the initiative seeks to establish common terminology that institutions would voluntarily adopt when making award offers to prospective students so families clearly understand the terms and can compare the costs of different institutions.

I hope you will review the initiative’s website, especially the principles and standards, and consider adding your institution to its list of partner institutions. Signaling your support for and signing on to the initiative’s uniform aid offer could allow greater flexibility for our institutions than what Congress and the Department of Education are currently considering.

Follow Up. Last week I wrote about attending the Department of Education’s National Summit on Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. Our reporting inadvertently omitted several other NAICU members who were in attendance, including:

• Rev. Michael J. Garanzini S.J., president, Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
• Shirley V. Hoogstra, president, Council for Christian Colleges & Universities
• Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider CM, president, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
• Eduardo Peñalver, president, Seattle University

My apologies for this oversight. It was great to have such diverse representation during this summit.

Washington Update Schedule. Finally, as Congress is in recess, Washington Update will also be taking a summer break. Unless current events dictate otherwise, Washington Update will be on hiatus until September 8. That said, there are several highly visible and contentious issues that we are expecting to be announced or released in the coming weeks, including:

• Continued action on spending, especially related to SEOG and FWS
• The release of the proposed overtime rules from the Department of Labor
• Guidance from the Departments of Education and Justice on allowable institutional practices related to the recent Supreme Court decision on race-conscious admissions.

So, while Washington Update may not surface in your inbox for the next few weeks, we do plan on being in touch on these and any other critical issues that may arise. I hope you enjoy the remainder of your summer and have a safe and healthy start to the coming academic year.

Soundbite

• The Department of Education is accepting applications for nearly $100 million in funding across two competitive grant programs to expand research infrastructure at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and to improve completion and retention rates among the students they serve. The MSI Research and Development Infrastructure (RDI) Grant provides $50 million for transformational investment in research infrastructure, with a focus on increasing research activities to move up the Carnegie Classification for research institutions. The Postsecondary Student Success Program (PSSG) provides $45 million to equitably improve postsecondary student outcomes for underserved students, including retention, transfer, and completion through evidence-based strategies. Applications for the MSI RDI Grant are due on October 1, and PSSG applications are due by September 25. The Department is holding two pre-application webinars for the MSI RDI Grant on August 16 and September 7.

Today’s Washington Update also reports on two hearings in the House. The first focused on college cost and the value of higher education and the second on the employee retention tax credit backlog.