Dear Colleagues:

In Washington this week, the House was not in session and the Senate finalized its committee organizational work (see story below).  Now that both chambers have named their committee leadership, it turns out some history was made. For the first time, the leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees are all women: Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Reps. Kay Granger(R-TX), who highlighted this during our Advocacy Day reception last week, and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).  Coupled with Shalanda Young, who heads up the Office of Management and Budget, women control all the purse strings in Washington.

In other news, the Congressional Budget Office released two important reports this week: 1) the updated 10 year budget outlook, which projects a $1.4 trillion deficit for 2023; and 2) the federal debt report, which projects the debt ceiling will be reached between July and September of this year. These CBO estimates will have a critical role in guiding congressional budget and spending decisions this year.

The Department of Education increased its efforts to examine Online Program Management (OPM) companies by announcing a series of listening sessions seeking public comment on incentive compensation for recruitment services, including bundled services related to OPMs (see story below).  If you are using such vendors, you should review any existing or potential agreements to ensure your institution is protected from any changes in federal policy and is in compliance with reporting requirements.

Finally, please remind your School Certifying Officials to take the training provided by the VA to help institutions transition from the VA-ONCE platform to Enrollment Manager to certify GI Bill benefits. SCOs must start their assigned Enrollment Manager training courses no later than February 27, 2023.

Soundbites

• In addition to the comments that NAICU submitted last week regarding “low-financial-value” programs, NAICU also signed on to an ACE letter reflecting the higher education community’s view of the Biden Administration’s accountability proposal. Separately, NAICU also signed on to ACE-led community comments on the Department of Education’s proposed rules regarding its new income-driven repayment plan.
• The Department of Education announced the first  awards for the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program.  Totaling over $18 million, the grants are intended to increase high-quality teacher preparation programs for students of color, strengthen the diversity of our teacher pipeline, and address teacher shortages. This support is targeted at teacher preparation programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority-Serving Institutions, and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities.  Of the 12 grants provided, NAICU member National Louis University in Illinois was awarded one to implement three multi-pathway residency programs designed specifically to increase the access, participation and success of diverse and multilingual school paraprofessionals by incorporating culturally responsive teaching and learning standards, an evidence-based learning community, and multilingual supports for academic and licensure success.

Today’s Washington Update also reports on the higher education priorities that are emerging from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, which held an executive session last week.