Introduction by Barbara K. Mistick
Dear Colleagues,
Today marks day 24 of the federal government shutdown and pundits are predicting this could surpass all previous shutdowns in its duration. On the negotiating fronts, policymakers still appear to be no closer to finding common ground on the issues that would end the shutdown and reopen the federal government.
Implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) continues to be a focus for NAICU in Washington. The second round of negotiated rulemaking for the Reimagining and Improving Student Education Committee is set to reconvene from November 3-7 at the Department of Education. As we’ve reported previously, a key concern in the legislation under consideration in the rulemaking process is the establishment of new annual and lifetime loan limits for graduate students.
Congress established higher student loan limits for graduate students enrolled in “professional” programs, acknowledging that these fields are crucial to the American workforce and often incur higher costs. The OBBBA expressly states that the definition of “professional” graduate program is an existing regulation in place (34 CFR 668.2) on the date the bill was enacted.
However, the Department of Education is interpreting the “professional” program regulatory definition narrowly, limiting it to only ten legacy fields that were listed as non-exhaustive examples in the regulation. If enacted as the Department is proposing, this reading would exclude roughly 93% of all graduate programs and prevent the definition from adapting to new and emerging professions.
I will soon be issuing an Action Alert asking for you to contact your representative and senators on this issue. We have also created a resource page on our website that provides more details, a sample letter you can tailor and use with your elected officials, talking points, and a series of actions you and your campus community can take now to help advocate for and protect graduate education access.
Soundbites
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Exemption Sought on New H1-B Visa Increase. NAICU joined others in the higher education community in sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security in response to the recent Presidential Proclamation increasing the fee for new H1-B visas from $215 to $100,000. The letter asks DHS for an exemption from the fee increase for higher education institutions. The increase went into effect on September 21, 2025, and will last for one year unless it’s extended or ruled unlawful by a court.
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IPEDS Training Webinar Series. This week, NAICU hosted its third IPEDS training, which focused on using the data system for campus benchmarking and state and federal data advocacy. You can view the training and presentation slides, and register for the three remaining webinars on our IPEDS webpage.
I hope you have a pleasant weekend.