Dear Colleagues:

Happy New Year!  I hope that you have had – or are still having – a healthy and restful break.  I am writing to you today from San Francisco where I am attending the Council of Independent Colleges’ annual Presidents Institute.  It’s been great to see so many NAICU members from around the country and to participate in such impactful conversations. 

It was also gratifying to see that CIC is honoring former NAICU President David Warren with its Allen P. Splete Award for Outstanding Service.  In recognizing David, CIC stated that during his time at NAICU and as president of Ohio Wesleyan University David “contributed enormously to strengthening the impact that higher education has on students’ lives” and “made a significant impact on American higher education and in the national community service movement.”  CIC also highlighted David’s “efforts to make education more accessible and to increase financial aid for all students.”

I know that you will agree with me that David richly deserves, and worked hard to earn, this prestigious award from CIC.

While I’m in San Francisco, much of the national political focus is on Washington, DC, specifically the action in the House of Representatives to elect a Speaker.  While the House has been at a standstill procedurally and legislatively, there has been significant activity on a host of issues impacting higher education.

Among this week’s Washington Update stories are a summary of the key funding increases for federal student and institutional aid that were included in the FY 2023 appropriations bill that passed at the end of last year, and a rundown of the Department of Education’s significant regulatory plans for the year, including information about a new round of negotiated rulemaking announced this week.  Perhaps the most important news this week is that the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule is not expected to be proposed before May. 

Soundbites

• The Department of Labor announced this week that the new target for issuing proposed changes to the Wage and Hour overtime rules would be this May.  Last year, the Department planned on proposing these changes in April and then again in October and each time there was a delay.  NAICU is continuing to work with others in the higher education and employer communities to prepare for possible proposals that could negatively impact colleges and universities, including a steep increase in the overtime pay threshold amount and the revocation of the teaching exemption.
• The Biden Administration submitted a brief to the Supreme Court regarding the Court’s two outstanding cases  on the President’s student loan debt forgiveness proposal. The Court agreed to hear the two cases together in February with a final determination to be made in June. Until a final decision is made, the student loan debt forgiveness proposal has been halted and the student loan repayment pause has been extended until the end of June. 
• Before the end of the 117^th Congress, the Student Veteran Emergency Relief Act passed both chambers and was sent to the president. This bill makes permanent pandemic flexibilities at the Department of Veterans Affairs that will help veteran students as they continue their higher education.  Provisions in the act will prevent the disruption of GI Bill benefits during a national emergency, extend the use of GI Bill benefits for study abroad for five years, and correct a burdensome dual certification process institutions with flat tuition structures have had. 
• The $1.7 trillion omnibus bill signed into law at the end of the year (see story below for more details) contained a package of retirement benefit provisions, known as SECURE 2.0, that included a new employer/employee benefit allowing student loan payments to be treated as elective deferrals for purposes of matching contributions.  This means an employer can match amounts employees pay on student loans by making a matching contribution to the employee’s retirement plan.  In addition, there was also a provision removing the tax penalties for rolling over 529 college savings plan amounts to Roth IRAs.  Under current law, 529 funds not used for education expenses are subject to both income tax and a 10% penalty on earnings. 
• A regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has determined that the National Collegiate Athletic Association should classify student athletes as employees for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). If upheld, the decision could ultimately allow college athletes to unionize. In 2021, the NLRB issued a memo concluding that many student athletes at private, nonprofit colleges and universities are protected under the NLRA.