E-Update for the Week of August 2, 2021

Highlights:

• On July 29, the House approved the chamber’s version of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor/HHS) appropriations bill.
• On July 29, the House Education and Labor Higher Education and Workforce Investment Subcommittee held a hearing titled, “Keeping the Pell Grant Promise: Increasing Enrollment, Supporting Success.”
• On July 26, USED released a request for information (RFI) seeking comments on possible changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF).

Budget & Appropriations:

House adopts FY2022 Labor/HHS appropriations bill, still awaiting action in the Senate: The House approved the chamber’s version of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor/HHS) appropriations bill. The appropriations bill was included within H.R.4502, which is a minibus (or bill containing multiple appropriations bills) package, and was adopted by a largely party line vote of 219-208. Now that the House has adopted the bill, the Senate could consider the package, but that is highly unlikely. Instead, the Senate will likely draft its own version of the FY2022 Labor/HHS appropriations bill, but it is unclear when the Senate will start that process. A press release from the House Appropriations Committee is here.
July 29, 2021

Coronavirus Updates (as related to education):

U.S. Department of Education (USED):

USED releases additional higher education relief funding to HBCUs, MSIs: The U.S. Department of Education (USED) released $3.2 billion in additional emergency grants under the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund. Of the funds, $2.97 billion from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will provide $1.6 billion to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), $143 million to Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and another $1.19 billion to Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). The remaining $225 million comes from grants included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) to support public and non-profit institutions and their students “with the greatest unmet needs” related to the pandemic. A press release is here.
July 29, 2021

USED releases final tranche of ARP funding to support homeless students and youth: USED released roughly $600 million in ARP Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) funding to states to support students experiencing homelessness. This tranche of funding follows the initial $200 million that was released to states in April, after which states were required to submit an application to the Department for approval before accessing the remaining funds. The funding will be used by states and districts to identify children and youth experiencing homelessness, as well as provide wraparound services, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A press release is here.
July 28, 2021

Non-Coronavirus Updates:

Administration:

U.S. Department of Education (USED):

USED seeking information on potential changes to public service loan forgiveness program: USED released a request for information (RFI) seeking comments on possible changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). In the notice, the Department announced its plans to establish negotiated rulemaking committees to prepare proposed regulations for programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA), including the PSLF. The Department also said that it “recognizes that there may be improvements it can make in the operational administration of the program outside of the regulatory process,” and these administrative changes could be enacted more quickly than a rulemaking process. The notice also contains questions to guide responses to the RFI, and comments will be accepted until September 24. The notice can be found here.
July 26, 2021  

Congress:

House:

House Education Committee explores increasing investment in Pell Grant program: The House Education and Labor Higher Education and Workforce Investment Subcommittee held a hearing titled, “Keeping the Pell Grant Promise: Increasing Enrollment, Supporting Success.” Full Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) chaired the subcommittee hearing, during which Members focused on the potential benefits and drawbacks of expanded Pell Grant access and increased maximum award levels. Democratic Members’ questions were largely grounded in the call to double the maximum Pell Grant award, and highlighted the positive impacts of increased funding while drawing attention to the unmet needs of low-income students in the financial aid system. “Even institutions that do enroll Pell-eligible students may not provide the support students need to complete their degrees,” Chairman Scott said, citing research showing that only a quarter of institutions with higher-than-average Pell Grant eligible-student enrollment actually graduated more than half of these students. While Republicans praised the Pell Grant program as the “cornerstone of federal student aid,” they also expressed concern that increasing the maximum Pell Grant award would lead to higher tuition rates resulting in negative impacts for middle class students who don’t qualify for the program. A recording of the hearing is here, Chairman Scott’s opening remarks are here, and Ranking Member Murphy’s opening remarks are here.
July 29, 2021

Foxx leads Committee Republicans in seeking additional information from GAO on USED grant programs: House Education and Labor Committee Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC), along with Committee Members Burgess Owens (R-UT) and Greg Murphy (R-NC), wrote a letter to Government Accountability Office (GAO) Comptroller General Gene Dodaro requesting that the GAO review how USED administers grants and to what extent “secretarial priorities inform this allocation” of funding. In the letter, the Members write that there is “little information publicly and readily available on these priorities, such as how often priorities are published, how often the priorities are used in grant announcements, and how often the use of priorities results in shifting awards to various grantees.” As a result, the Members request that the GAO “conduct a review of the use of secretary priorities, going back at least 15 years to ensure the review captures multiple administrations of both parties.” A press release is here.
July 26, 2021

Upcoming Events (Congressional and Administration):

• On August 2 at 11:00 am, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will hold a meeting of the STEM Education Advisory Panel. The agenda includes a report from the advisory panel and an update from interagency working groups, amongst other items. More information and registration are here.
• On August 3 at 10:00 am, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Student Loan Bankruptcy Reform.” No witnesses have yet been announced. The hearing will be livestreamed here.
• On August 4 at 3:00 pm, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Success After Service: Improving Veterans’ Employment and Educational Opportunities.” No witnesses have yet been announced. The hearing will be livestreamed here.
• On August 5 at 1:15 pm and August 6 at 2:15 pm, USED’s National Assessment Governing Board will hold its quarterly board meeting. The agenda includes an update from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and a meeting on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment framework. More information and registration are here.

Upcoming Events (Outside Organizations):

• On August 2 at 2:15 pm, the Bipartisan Policy Center will hold an event titled, “How to Sustainably Finance Higher Education and Promote College Affordability.” The webinar will focus on how states and the federal government can act together to chart a sustainable future that improves access and affordability throughout the higher education system. More information and registration are here.
• On August 4 at 1:00 pm, The 74 will hold an event titled, “We Got Next: The Future of School Choice.” The webinar will discuss the “next chapter in the fight for educational equity,” with a focus on the future of public schools, both traditional and charter. More information and registration are here.

Publications (Administration):

• On July 28, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) published new data from its Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) fall 2020 collection. Key findings include identifying that between 2018-19 and 2020-21, the average tuition at 4-year public institutions increased by less than one percent for in-state students and decreased by roughly one percent for out-of-state students; for 4-year nonprofit institutions, tuition increased by roughly 2 percent; and that of the roughly 3.5 million students receiving degrees or certificates at Title IV institutions across the U.S., about 57 percent received a bachelor’s degree. The full data are here.
• On July 27, NCES published a report titled, “Principals’ Perceptions of Influence Over Decisions at Their Schools in 2017–18.” The report examines public and private school principals’ perceived influence over certain activities at their schools. Key findings include identifying that most principals felt they had a major influence over decisions made about any or all of the seven surveyed activities at their schools; that for more than half of the activities, private school principals more frequently expressed having major influence over decisions than did traditional public school principals; and that public charter school principals more often felt they had a major influence over decisions at their schools than did traditional public school principals. The full report is here.

Publications (Outside Organizations):

• On July 29, the Annenberg Institute at Brown University published a report titled, “School-Based Mentoring Relationships and Human Capital Formation.” Building on existing research that has detected significant benefits from providing mentors to students, the report aims to measure the effects of in-school mentoring on student achievement. Key findings include identifying that students with mentors gained between .06 and .48 points of grade point average; were between 18 and 35 percent less likely to fail a course; and were between 18 and 35 percent less likely to fail a course. The full report is here.
• On July 28, NWEA published a report titled, “Learning During COVID-19: Reading and Math Achievement in the 2020-2021 School Year.” The report examined to what extent pandemic-caused disruptions affected student achievement during the 2020-21 school year, along with which students were the most impacted. Key findings include identifying that while third through eighth grade students’ test scores tended to improve of the course of the last school year, students still performed worse overall on NWEA’s tests when compared to a typical year, with students of color and students in high-poverty schools being disproportionately impacted. The full report is here.
• On July 27, MissionSquare Research Institute published a report titled, “Issue Brief: Postsecondary Education Staffing.” The report provides an in-depth analysis of the postsecondary education workforce, including current staffing, projected workforce levels, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on staffing. Key takeaways include identifying that despite declines during the pandemic, staffing at postsecondary institutions is trending upwards in the long-term; that from 1999 to 2020, college and university staffing increased by 51 percent; but that trade and technical schools only saw an increase in staffing through 2014. The full report is here.

Legislation:

H.R.4691
A bill to establish a K-12 education cybersecurity initiative, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. James Langevin (D-RI)

H.R.4698
A bill to prevent the use of Federal funds to advance discriminatory concepts, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT)

H.R.4723
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand eligibility for public service student loan forgiveness to certain contractor employees of national laboratories.
Sponsor: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)

H.R.4724
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a percentage of student loan forgiveness for public service employment, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)

H.R.4725
A bill to provide for the relief of interest on certain Federal student loans.
Sponsor: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)

H.R.4727
A bill to provide for loan forgiveness for STEM teachers, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)

H.R.4745
A bill to establish a program to make grants to institutions of higher education to provide courses relating to critical legacy computer languages, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA)

H.R.4751
A bill to amend the Department of Education Organization Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require publication of information relating to religious exemptions to the requirements of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA)

H.R.4761
A bill to amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure workplace choice and opportunity for young adults with disabilities.
Sponsor: Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI)

H.R.4764
A bill to prohibit the teaching of critical race theory in schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)

S.2470
A bill to prohibit Federal funding for educational agencies and schools whose students do not read certain foundational texts of the United States and are not able to recite those texts or that teach that those texts are products of white supremacy or racism.
Sponsor: Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO)

S.2478
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a percentage of student loan forgiveness for public service employment, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)

S.2515
A bill to amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to treat attendance at an institution of higher education the same as work for the purpose of determining eligibility to participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program.
Sponsor: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)