Dear Colleagues,

It has been difficult this week to remain focused on the higher education policy and legislative issues here in Washington as we are faced with another conflict overseas affecting people around the world.

During my time at Carnegie Mellon University, I spent several years working in Israel and have some understanding of what we are seeing on television, in newspapers, and online. My heart goes out to the people and families in the region who are trying to keep their communities and those they love safe and cope with the devastation that is all around them.

War and violence, sadly, are an awful part of the daily lives of citizens around the world. Even with that reality, the horrific actions this past weekend are a sobering reminder of the importance of education, understanding history, and the strength of compassion, which I offer to all who are suffering because of these tragedies.

Back here in Washington, the atmosphere remains in flux with the ongoing campaign for the speakership in the House. The Senate was not in session but will return on Monday. We are watching to see how the House leadership race resolves as it is directly related to FY 2024 funding levels. (As of publication Thursday afternoon, House Republicans had not yet elected a new speaker.) One of the reasons Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) lost his position as speaker is because he was unwilling to shut down the government to force deeper cuts for FY 2024 and instead funded the government at current levels until November 17.

As soon as the House elects a speaker it is likely to resume legislative work. In anticipation of floor time becoming available, the House Appropriations Committee introduced the FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill as written in subcommittee. This means the bill that could come to a floor vote maintains the elimination of Federal Work-Study (FWS) and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) program funding.

If you have not contacted your Representative to tell them you oppose the elimination of FWS and SEOG, please do so now. Here is our Action Alert, with talking points included, to help with your outreach. You can also activate your campus to send messages using the Student Aid Alliance Contact Congress portal. We have been told directly that if Members of Congress do not hear from constituents about program cuts, they will remain on the table and funding will not be restored.

How the House majority handles funding going forward remains to be seen, but earlier this week Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Rules Committee Chairman and senior appropriator, told Politico, “This agreement was faulty from the beginning. It’s changed over time, and now in a sense, it doesn’t exist at all because McCarthy isn’t the speaker anymore.” Cole is a long-time champion of the federal student aid programs and has served as chair of the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee.

At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, the Biden Administration began a highly anticipated negotiated rulemaking session on student loan debt, initiated after the Supreme Court struck down his proposed across the board student loan forgiveness proposal. While it was expected the Administration would seek alternative ways to pursue wide scale debt relief, it instead proposed more targeted forgiveness with a particular focus on borrowers who had made little progress on reducing their debt after years of payments because of interest accrual. 

You can read more about the start of the negotiated rulemaking, as well as information on the results of our recent survey on the Department of Labor’s proposed overtime rule and a new proposal on foreign gift reporting in the stories below.

Soundbites

• The National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) is offering a continuing legal education workshop November 8-10, in Washington, D.C. The program is directed at college and university counsel and compliance staff who are responsible for protecting institutions from legal, financial, and reputational risk. NAICU has joined several other higher education organizations in serving as a cooperating association in support of the workshop. The schedule will focus on a range of topics related to compliance program administration and legal and regulatory issues.

My thoughts and prayers are with those of you who are living and dealing with the effects of this conflict at home and abroad.

Regards,

Barbara

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