Biden Announces Joint Deal with U.K. and Australia to Counter China
President Joe Biden just announced a new working group with Britain and Australia to share advanced technologies—including the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines—in a thinly veiled bid to counter China. The trio, now known by the acronym AUKUS, will make it easier for the three countries to share information and know-how in key technological areas like artificial intelligence, cyber, quantum, underwater systems, and long-range strike capabilities. Biden, joined virtually by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday afternoon, detailed the reasons for the trilateral effort. All three countries will work over the next 18 months to figure out how best to deliver the technology, which the U.S. traditionally has only shared with the U.K., the official said. ( Politico - Sept. 15, 2021)
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Bipartisan Bill Offers Green Card Path for ‘Documented Dreamers’
Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., proposed legislation Wednesday that would put so-called documented Dreamers, or foreign citizens who grew up legally in the U.S. on a parent’s work visa but then aged out, on a path to permanent residency. A rare bipartisan effort on immigration, the bill would allow more than 200,000 people who came to the U.S. as children and graduated from American universities to apply for a green card. This would spare them from having to leave the country after they turn 21—the point at which they become too old to remain on their parents’ visas. In particular, the legislation would help young adults, largely Indian citizens, who turned 21 while their parents were stuck waiting in lengthy green card backlogs caused by strict per-country visa caps the U.S. imposes. ( Roll Call - Sept. 15, 2021)
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Kvaal Confirmed as Under Secretary of Education
The Senate voted 58 to 37 Tuesday to confirm James Kvaal as under secretary of education, nearly five months after his confirmation hearing. Kvaal, who most recently served as president of the Institute for College Access and Success, was broadly supported by the higher education community for the department’s top higher education post. But his confirmation vote was held up by Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, until last month. ( Inside Higher Ed - Sept. 15, 2021)
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Not Coming, Not Staying
Preliminary data released by the federal government today reaffirmed that colleges and universities lost hundreds of thousands of students last year as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on fall 2020 enrollments, particularly at community colleges. The new data, which also break down enrollment by state, shed light on some of the other ramifications of the pandemic, including changes in student retention rates, number of employees and institutional revenue. College and university enrollment nationwide fell by 651,774 student —a decline of more than 3 percent —from fall 2019 to fall 2020, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. Higher education institutions also had 151,627 fewer employees in fall 2020 compared to the previous fall, employing 3,867,250 full-time and part-time employees, down from 4,018,877 in fall 2019. ( Inside Higher Ed - Sept. 15, 2021)
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