E-Update for the Week of January 18, 2022

Highlights:

• On January 13, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced the nomination of Amy Loyd to serve as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) at the U.S. Department of Education (USED).
• On January 12, the Biden Administration announced new efforts to keep schools safely open for full-time, in-person learning, including plans to increase schools’ access to COVID-19 testing.
• On January 9, a group of former students filed a lawsuit against 16 universities, including Yale University, Georgetown University, and Northwestern University, accusing the institutions of participating in a “price-fixing cartel that is designed to reduce or eliminate financial aid as a locus of competition.”

Nominations and Personnel:

HELP Committee advances Loyd nomination as USED Assistant Secretary for career, technical education programs: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced the nomination of Amy Loyd to serve as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) at the U.S. Department of Education (USED). The nomination received a voice vote during committee consideration indicating bipartisan support. Prior to joining the administration as a senior advisor, Amy Loyd was a vice president at Jobs for the Future where she designed and led programs to improve education and workforce outcomes. The committee first advanced Loyd’s nomination on a voice vote in October 2021, but her nomination expired in December 2021 after the Senate failed to act. President Biden re-nominated Loyd earlier this month, and her nomination will now head to the full Senate for consideration.
January 13, 2022

Coronavirus Updates (as related to education):

Administration:

U.S. Department of Education (USED):

Biden Administration commits to sending 10 million COVID tests to schools, per month: The Biden Administration announced new efforts to keep schools safely open for full-time, in-person learning, including plans to increase schools’ access to COVID-19 testing. Specifically, the administration will send schools 10 million additional tests per month, including 5 million, no-cost point-of-care tests and 5 million free, lab-based PCR tests. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and USED will also be working with state, territorial, and Tribal partners to “address testing needs in communities” and stand up testing sites, including at schools. A press release is here.
January 12, 2022

Congress:

House:

McCarthy, Foxx call on USED to disclose oversight of ARP funds in light of omicron school closures: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and House Education and Labor Committee Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to USED Secretary Miguel Cardona inquiring about Departmental oversight of American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funding, and why the Biden administration has “not had a more forceful response to school closures.” In the letter, the Members argue that, “through nearly half of the 2021-2022 school year, most schools were reopened while almost all the ARP funding for schools had gone untouched.” “To the extent schools are spending ARP funds at all, several are reportedly spending their funds on left wing ideological projects,” the Members write. Additionally, the Members request all documents pertaining to the Department’s role in school closures, in order to ensure “transparency on the actions and correspondence your Department officials have engaged in regarding ongoing school closures.” A press release is here.
January 12, 2022

Senate:

HELP Committee hears from Administration officials on federal response to COVID variants: The Senate HELP Committee held a hearing titled, “Addressing New Variants: A Federal Perspective on the COVID-19 Response,” during which federal health and disaster preparedness officials testified, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director, and Dawn O’Connell, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS. During the hearing, both Democratic and Republican Senators raised questions about the national struggle to reopen schools, or keep them open, given the highly contagious Omicron variant. “I am hearing from so many schools that are having trouble staying open,” Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) said. “They want to stay open, [but] part of it is they have staff that are sick. That’s understandable, but a big part of it is they don’t have access to safety measures like masks and testing supplies. What do I tell them about where they go to get that?” HHS Assistant Secretary O’Connell responded by pointing to federal school testing expansion efforts and emphasized that schools having enough testing supplies to stay open is a “critical priority” for the administration. Committee Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC) echoed the Chairwoman’s concerns saying, “Over the holidays, when Americans were instructed to do the responsible thing and get a test to see their loved ones, there were no tests on the shelves or online, and hours-long lines were the norm at testing sites across the country. The testing situation was worse when many sought tests to safely return to work and school.” A recording of the hearing is here. A press release from Chairwoman Murray is here, and Ranking Member Burr’s opening statement is here.
January 11, 2022

Non-Coronavirus Updates:

Administration:

U.S. Department of Education (USED):

USED releases proposed priorities for Full-Service Community Schools program: USED released a Federal Register notice outlining proposed priorities, definitions, and requirements for the Full-Service Community Schools competitive grant program. The program provides support for the planning, implementation, and operation of full-service community schools that improve the access and effectiveness of services for children and families, particularly for students attending schools with concentrated poverty, including rural schools. The notice contains five proposed priorities, which include: 1) Capacity Building and Development Grants; 2) Multi-Local Educational Agency Grants; 3) State Scaling Grants; 4) Participation in the National Evaluation; and 5) Evidence-Based Integrated Student Supports. The notice also proposes a requirement that each application address the four pillars of full-service community schools, as well as other definitions and additional selection criteria are in the notice. The notice can be found here. A press release from the Department is here.
January 11, 2022

USED Neg Reg Committee holds first session to begin addressing institutional and programmatic eligibility issues: The Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Institutional and Programmatic Eligibility will hold its first session in a series of meetings. The upcoming Negotiated Rulemaking Committee meetings on accountability will address the following topics: 90/10 rule; Ability to Benefit; certification procedures for participation in Title IV (student aid); change of ownership and change in control of institutions of higher education (IHEs); financial responsibility for participating IHEs; gainful employment; and standards of administrative capability. In advance of the first session, USED announced the full list of committee members. Additionally, the Department released draft proposals detailing the Biden Administration’s approach to its accountability agenda. A Federal Register notice announcing the meetings is here. The full list of committee members is here, and the draft proposals are here.

According to Politico, “among the most significant proposals is how the Education Department plans to implement new funding restrictions on for-profit colleges that Congress included as part of President Joe Biden’s COVID relief law last year. Under the new law, for-profit colleges are prohibited from having more than 90 percent of their revenue come from various types of ‘federal education assistance funds.’” More specifically, Politico continues, the Biden administration’s initial proposal fails to “explicitly list” which types of federal funds would count toward the 90 percent cap under the new calculations. Instead, the proposal “calls for the secretary of education to publish an annual list of other federal agencies that provide education assistance. Additionally, the Biden administration is proposing to “eliminate what it sees as other ‘loopholes’ in the 90/10 rule calculations.” Regarding the gainful employment rule, the administration did not offer a draft regulatory proposal, and instead expressed its overarching goal to develop new regulations “that promote better labor market outcomes, create value for students’ investments in higher education, protect students from acquiring debts they cannot afford to repay, and safeguard the interests of taxpayers,” according to Politico. The Negotiated Rulemaking Committee will also meet February 14 to 18 and March 14 to 18. An article from Politico is here (note: a subscription to Politico Pro is required).
January 18, 2022

Congress:

Foxx, Burr call on USED to disclose ‘true cost’ of federal student loan portfolio: House Education and Labor Committee Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC) led a letter to USED Secretary Cardona expressing concern over the Department’s “lack of transparency and cooperation” regarding the “true cost” of the federal student loan portfolio. In the letter, the Republican Members write that they “have received conflicting statements from Department officials regarding the valuation reports on the federal student loan portfolio.” “Whether this is deliberate obfuscation or incompetence,” the Members write, “it is prohibiting us from fulfilling our oversight duty. We are encouraging Secretary Cardona to get his house in order and provide us with the requested documents.” The Members reiterate their previous requests for all “documents, follow-up reports, validating reports, reviews of the reports, and all other work conducted by FI Consulting, Deloitte, and FSA [Federal Student Aid] on the valuation of the federal loan portfolio.” A press release is here.
January 12, 2022

Other Education News This Week:

Students file antitrust suit against 16 institutions of higher education related to alleged ‘price-fixing’: A group of former students filed a lawsuit against 16 universities, including Yale University, Georgetown University and Northwestern University, accusing the institutions of participating in a “price-fixing cartel that is designed to reduce or eliminate financial aid as a locus of competition.” The lawsuit, which was filed in Illinois federal court, alleged that the group of institutions agreed on “a set of common standards for determining the family’s ability to pay for college.” According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, while schools under federal law can collaborate on their formulas, they’re unable to also consider financial need in admissions decisions. An article from The Wall Street Journal is here.
January 9, 2022

Navient reaches settlement with state attorneys general: The student loan company Navient reached a roughly $2 billion settlement with a bipartisan group of 40 state attorneys general to resolve allegations that it made “predatory private loans” and “illegally pushed federal student loan borrowers into higher-cost repayment plans,” according to reporting from Politico. The settlement requires that Navient cancel the private loan balances of nearly 66,000 borrowers and pay restitution to about 350,000 federal student loan borrowers whom it placed in certain types of forbearance plans. An article from Politico is here (note: a subscription to Politico Pro is required).
January 13, 2022

Upcoming Events (Congress and Administration):

• On January 18, the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Institutional and Programmatic Eligibility will hold its first session in a series of meetings. For more information on anticipated topics of discussion, see above under administrative updates.
• On January 26 at 3:30 pm, the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA) will hold a virtual public meeting to discuss the progress of each ACA subcommittee. Agenda topics for this meeting, include: departmental apprenticeship updates, apprentice perspectives, subcommittee report outs, and an opportunity for public comment. Any member of the public who would like to speak should send a statement of the nature of the intended presentation and the amount of time needed to AdvisoryCommitteeonApprenticeship@dol.gov, by January 19. The notice is here.

Upcoming Events (Outside Organizations):

• On January 17 at 10:00 am, UNCF Washington and the Washington Inter-Alumni Council will hold a virtual event titled, “2022 UNCF Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration – Washington, DC.” The event will “will help send more students to and through school.” More information and registration are here.
• On January 18 at 11:00 am, the Business Council for International Understanding will hold an event titled, “Virtual Roundtable with Kristina Ishamel, Deputy Director, Office of Education Technology, U.S. Department of Education.” The event will feature a discussion of how partners can collaborate with the Office of Education Technology. More information and registration are here.
• On January 19 at 1:00 pm, the Progressive Policy Institute will hold an event titled, “America’s Last Civil Right: A Quality Public Education.” The webinar will discuss the growing movement for a constitutional right to quality public education in America. More information and registration are here.

Publications (Congressional and Administration):

• On January 12, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) published a report titled, “College Affordability Views and College Enrollment.” The report, which uses data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, found differences in college enrollment and employment by views on college affordability when in high school. Overall, the report found that students are more likely to attend college if they think their family can afford to send them. The full report is here.

Publications (Outside Organizations):

• On January 14, the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) published a report titled, “The Degree Reclamation Playbook.” The report aims to support practitioners in reengaging students who have attended college, but did not complete their degree. The report also promotes two “evidence-based and equity-focused” strategies: adult reengagement and reverse transfer. Adult reengagement includes retroactively awarding degrees to students who meet degree requirements, while reverse transfer ensures that students are awarded the associate’s degrees they earn even after transferring from a two-year institution to a four-year institution. The full report is here.
• On January 13, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center published new data that found a continued decline in undergraduate enrollment since fall 2019. According to the data, total fall 2021 undergraduate enrollment declined by 3.1 percent, or 465,300 students, compared with fall 2020. Since fall 2019, total enrollment has declined by 6.6 percent, or 1,025,600 students. More specifically, the number of students seeking associate’s degrees fell by 6.2 percent; students seeking bachelor’s degrees fell by 3 percent; and graduate student enrollment declined by 0.4 percent. The full report is here.
• On January 13, the Student Borrower Protection Center, the National Consumer Law Center and the Center for Responsible Lending released a report titled, “Restoring the Promise of Income-Driven Repayment (IDR): An IDR Waiver Program Proposal.” The report outlines how a proposed overhaul of the IDR program would allow borrowers to access affordable loan payments in the short term and provide a way out for those experiencing long-term financial hardship. The report argues that IDR has “failed to deliver” for student borrowers, and urges the Biden Administration to create of an IDR restoration project, or an IDR waiver, in order to make student loan repayments more affordable and no longer a “lifelong burden” for many borrowers. The full report is here.
• On January 12, Results for America and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University released a new EdResearch for Recovery brief titled, “Building High-Quality School Counseling Programs to Ensure Student Success.” The report highlights evidence-based strategies to strengthen school counseling and improve student outcomes. Key findings from the report include elevating certain effective counseling strategies, like lowering student-to-counselor ratios, and comprehensively focusing on academic, social-emotional, and postsecondary domains to employ data to better target student needs. The full report is here.
• On January 12, Results for America and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University released a new EdResearch for Recovery brief titled, “Improving Teaching Practice with Instructional Coaching.” The report highlights evidence-based strategies to improve teaching and learning through instructional coaching. Key findings include identifying specific activities that lead to effective coaching, such as making coaching content-specific, planning discussions, observations and feedback, and ensuring strong support from school and district leadership. The full report is here.
• On January 12, Chiefs for Change released a new resource titled, “District Student Wellbeing Services Reflection Tool.” The tool aims to help school systems assess and strengthen services and partnerships that support students’ mental, physical, and emotional health. More specifically, the tool intends to help districts better understand how students can access supports and identify obstacles that might prevent children from getting the help they need, while determining if services are effective and widely accessible. The resource is here.

Legislation:

H.R. 6371
A bill to address the needs of individuals with disabilities within the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
Sponsor: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI)

H.R.6380
A bill to direct the Secretary of Education to establish a grant program to make grants to the parents of students enrolled in elementary schools or secondary schools that, for any reason related to COVID-19, are failing to provide in-person instruction for each enrolled student for each school day of school year 2021-2022, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL)

H.R.6397
A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to award grants to public institutions of higher education located in a covered State, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)

S.3460
A bill to prohibit local educational agencies from obligating certain Federal funds when schools are not providing full time in-person instruction.
Sponsor: Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)

S.3471
A bill to address the needs of individuals with disabilities within the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
Sponsor: Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)

S.3497
A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to award grants to public institutions of higher education located in a covered State, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Senator James Inhofe (R-OK)