AAU, Associations Request Clarification of HEERF II Student Aid Grant RestrictionsAAU yesterday joined ACE and 33 other higher education associations on a letter to acting Secretary of Education Philip Rosenfelt to request his department clarify that Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds, or “HEERF II,” can be used to help all students, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program participants and international students. The letter praises the department’s decision to exempt HEERF II from its implementing regulations for HEERF I while noting the uncertainty about the scope of eligibility for HEERF II student aid grants. ( Association of American Universities - Jan. 29, 2021)
| |
CNSF Requests at Least $3B in Pandemic Relief for NSF The Coalition for National Science Funding, which includes AAU [and Vanderbilt University], on Wednesday sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to include $3 billion in emergency relief for the National Science Foundation in the next pandemic relief package. This funding would help “address the challenges faced by the scientific research community, specifically the need to restore the research enterprise and safeguard our nation’s research workforce,” the coalition noted. ( Association of American Universities - Jan. 29, 2021)
| |
Ed Dept. Encourages Approving Aid to Unemployed Students
In a move intended to help college students who’ve lost their jobs during the pandemic, the Education Department wrote financial aid administrators on Friday, reminding them they have the discretion to consider special circumstances in deciding whether students are eligible for federal student aid. And the department “encourages aid administrators to consider the special circumstances that may arise for students and families during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, especially as they relate to unemployment or reduction in work,” said a letter from Annmarie Weisman, who is temporarily performing the duties of the deputy assistant secretary for postsecondary policy, planning and innovation. Weisman said awards given based on professional judgment will not be a factor in whether the department puts them under review. ( Inside Higher Ed - Feb. 1, 2021)
| |
Cardona to Go before Senate this WeekThe Senate education committee will take up confirmation of President Biden’s pick for education secretary, Miguel Cardona, on Wednesday, the committee announced. Patty Murray, the Democratic chair on the committee, has already backed the nomination of Cardona, formerly Connecticut’s commissioner of education. Thus far, Cardona’s nomination has not been controversial. ( Inside Higher Ed - Feb. 1 2021)
| |
Burr to Be Senate's Top Republican on EducationSenator Richard Burr, from North Carolina, expects to be named Lamar Alexander’s successor as the Senate’s top Republican on the education committee, a source familiar with the senator’s thinking said Friday. A press release from Patty Murray of Washington, the Democratic chair of the committee, on Friday also referred to Burr as the incoming ranking member, or the head of the minority party on the panel. Burr does not have much of a record on higher education issues, said lobbyists and advocates, who said he will likely not have as great an interest in those issues as Alexander, a former president of the University of Tennessee who retired from the Senate earlier this year. A spokeswoman for Burr said she had no immediate comment on his priorities for higher education. ( Inside Higher Ed - Feb. 1, 2021)
| |
What Will Biden's Anti-systemic Racism Executive Order Mean?For years, researchers and higher education advocates have been frustrated by the lack of good Education Department data on how students of color and those with lower incomes are being let down by the nation’s higher education system. However, progressive advocacy groups say an executive order President Biden signed on his first day in office instructing the Education Department and all federal agencies to examine whether they are perpetuating systemic racism could have profound effects on the experience of students from underrepresented groups at colleges and universities. The administration hasn’t laid out any specifics about what the review could mean for college students. However, some are concerned the order could lead to reigniting conservative complaints that campuses are liberal breeding grounds. ( Inside Higher Ed - Feb. 1, 2021)
| |
Biden Faces Pressure to Oust Federal Student Loan Chief Appointed by DeVos
Progressives are ramping up pressure on the Biden administration to replace the federal official who oversees the nation’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio, calling for new leadership to carry out many of the sweeping student debt policy changes they're seeking. The current head of the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid, Mark A. Brown, was appointed by former Secretary Betsy DeVos for a three-year term that expires in March 2022 with the option for an additional extension. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as consumer and labor groups, are urging the Biden administration to move far more quickly to install a new person in that position, which is responsible for managing the federal government’s vast student lending operations. ( Politico - Jan. 29, 2021)
| |
AAU Joins Letter Urging State Department to Support International Students
Yesterday, AAU, ACE, and 46 other higher education organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to congratulate him on his recent confirmation and highlight actions he can take to support international students and ensure the United States remains the most attractive destination for foreign talent. The letter recommends that Blinken coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that visa applications and work authorizations for international students and scholars are processed quickly and allow consular officials flexibility to interpret intent provisions when adjudicating student visa applications. ( Association of American Universities - Jan. 29, 2021)
| |
Biden’s Plan to Help International Students Stay after Graduation Could Help Recruit Them in the First Place
On his very first day in office, President Biden proposed immigration reform that, among other provisions, would make it easier for international students who earn graduate degrees in science and engineering fields to stay in the United States after graduation. The legislation was hailed by higher-ed groups, which have long called for stapling a green card to every Ph.D. A key reason: Measures that permit international graduates to stay and work could go a long way toward helping American colleges recruit them in the first place . . . . Keeping the talent pipeline flowing is especially critical in STEM fields, where more than half of all doctoral degrees are earned by student-visa holders. The measure would also make Dreamers . . . eligible to apply immediately for permanent residency and for citizenship in three years. ( The Chronicle of Higher Education - Jan. 29, 2021)
| |
Follow the Office of Federal Relations on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube!
| |
|