Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick

Dear Colleagues, 

I hope you're finding time to recharge as we reach the heart of summer. At NAICU, the recent passage of the reconciliation bill has kept us busy. Our focus now turns to a deeper analysis of the bill’s provisions that impact higher education, along with continued engagement with Congress and the administration as implementation begins. 

To help you, we’re developing an FAQ document and a dedicated webpage outlining the bill’s implications for higher education. We’ll share these resources with you soon. Your engagement and feedback during our recent webinars were very helpful in guiding us to what needs additional coverage.   

As a reminder, we have created numerous reconciliation resources to help you better understand what’s in the bill and what’s not:  

Looking ahead, our next major advocacy effort will be student aid appropriations in September. Key issues will include the Pell Grant maximum award, as well as funding for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Federal Work-Study. The House has written 10 of its 12 annual appropriations bills – which is different from the reconciliation process – with the education spending bill expected to be written after August recess.  

Significant updates came up this week from both the Supreme Court and the Department of Education, with potential implications for higher education policy and practice. We are closely monitoring these developments and will provide analysis as more details become available.  

Meanwhile, congressional attention remains sharply focused on campus climate and oversight of institutions. The House Education and the Workforce Committee has held multiple hearings this year — including a second round specifically focused on antisemitism on college campuses. These hearings underscore the continued scrutiny our institutions face and the importance of proactive, mission-based leadership. We provide further coverage of this ongoing issue below.

Soundbites

• Lawmakers Continue Campus Antisemitism Hearings. Continuing its scrutiny of antisemitism on college campuses, the House Committee on Education & Workforce summoned three college presidents to testify this week. Like previous hearings, the session was a partisan affair, with committee Republicans castigating presidents from Georgetown University, University of California, Berkeley and the City University of New York over their handling of antisemitic incidents on campus and Democrats acknowledging concerns about antisemitism but claiming that the issue is being used as a pretext for attacking higher education. 
  
  
• Federal Agencies to Ban Funding for Individuals Unlawfully Present in the U.S. President Trump directed five federal agencies that offer federal benefits under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to adhere to the original intent of the law and bar U.S. taxpayer-funded services to illegal aliens.  Each agency (the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Labor, and Justice) has indicated that it will abide by the order.  As a result, the Department of Education will be ending free tuition benefits for certain post-secondary career and technical education programs. The administration predicts these restrictions will save U.S. taxpayers $40 billion.
  
  
• Subcommittee Marks Up Student Athlete Rights Legislation. The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade marked up the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act, a bill that would preempt state or local laws on Name, Image, or Likeness deals, shield college athletics from antitrust lawsuits, and ensure that student athletes are not treated as employees. The committee narrowly voted to advance the bill, but a partisan divide remains, and the bill faces an uncertain path forward.