House Legislative Update & Advocacy Resources
The House narrowly passed its version of a budget reconciliation bill on May 22 by a vote of 215 to 214. While a handful of technical revisions were made during the bill’s path from committee to floor, the sweeping changes to higher education policy were left almost entirely intact. It incorporates work done by the Education and Workforce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee (see below). The next step is for the Senate to pass its version of the bill. Stay tuned for further House action.
Advocacy Step
You can still let your Member of Congress know your concerns with the House passed bill.
Bill Passed in the committee on April 29, 2025
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The bill includes concerning changes to Pell Grant eligibility, including cuts for students unable to enroll in a 30-credit annual course load. Other key provisions include the elimination of the Grad PLUS program, termination of undergraduate in-school interest subsidies, and the introduction of a federal risk-sharing model that could financially penalize institutions based on program outcomes. The legislation also prevents students from using federal grants and loans to pay for programs that exceed a national “median cost by program” metric. For programs that exceed this metric, institutions would need to fill in the gap with institutional aid, or students would be forced to turn to the private loan market to finance their pursuit of a degree.
Bill passed in the committee on May 14
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The bill preserves nearly all the student and family higher education benefits that had been under consideration for elimination and expands IRC Sec. 127 employer-provided education assistance - a long-standing NAICU priority. However, the bill also increases the marginal rates on private, nonprofit colleges and universities eligible to pay the endowment tax. The bill does not change the formula determining which institutions pay the tax, but does exclude international and undocumented students from the per-student count.
General Resources
Below are resources for NAICU members to use when reaching out to members of Congress.