ED Holds Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Sessions
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) held its second session of the Program Integrity and Institutional Quality negotiated rulemaking committee in early February, which is focusing on regulations related to state authorization, accreditation, distance learning, cash management, among other topics. Negotiators went through all of the issue papers, with some concern over a few proposed rules that could affect institutions of higher education (IHE) including:

• The elimination of a provision that would allow IHEs to include the cost of textbooks and supplies as part of tuition and fees.
• Allowing states that participate in a reciprocity agreement to enforce their own “education specific” laws.

Both these issues within the cash management paper and the state authorization paper did not meet consensus on the language from negotiators given disagreements in the proposed rules.  The Department’s next and final session on these topics will be from March 4-7, 2024.

Additionally, ED held a fourth session for their Student Loan Debt Relief negotiated rulemaking committee in an effort to develop regulatory language for student borrowers facing financial hardship.  The rulemaking committee convening came following an emergent call from Members of Congress and over 60 education organizations last month to “immediately establish a fourth session for the Student Loan Debt Relief negotiated rulemaking to ensure the Department can develop a robust rule to provide relief to millions of student loan borrowers experiencing hardship.”  Following remarks from Under Secretary James Kvaal, the committee and participants engaged in negotiations to find different paths and outcomes for student debt relief.  Specifically, the committee worked to identify and outline borrower hardship conditions and characteristics not already reflected in enacted and/or proposed regulations.  Negotiators discussed proposed regulatory text amendments, including the refinement of definitions for conditions of hardship needed to be gauged by the Secretary when determining if a borrower should have their loans waived.  This student debt relief rulemaking comes on the heels of the Biden Administration approving $1.2 billion in loan forgiveness for roughly 150,000 students enrolled in the new SAVE IDR plan.
 
Equity Action Plan: 2023 Update
On February 14, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released its 2023 update to its Equity Action Plan released in 2022.   The Equity Action plan is an effort to support the White House’s day one Executive Order on “Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government” by expanding accessible and rigorous education in American schools, through the development of a “just and more equitable educational ecosystem.”  The 2023 update provides focus areas and priorities for the department to engage with students, families, and communities through the continued support and development of ED educational equity programs and more thoughtful information exchanges and collaboration (public comments, listening sessions, etc.).
Five focus areas outlined in the 2023 update (mostly consistent with 2022 goals and priorities) include:

1. “Improve college access, affordability, and degree completion for underserved students to increase economic mobility;
2. Implement Maintenance of Equity requirements to ensure historically underserved students have equitable resources for learning recovery;
3. Address inequities faced by justice-impacted individuals by expanding access to postsecondary learning opportunities that improve outcomes for communities and reduce recidivism rates;
4. Advance equity in and through career and technical education;
5. Increase mental health resources with an emphasis on underserved communities, from the historic legislation and funding provided by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.”

The 2023 update also heavily supports ED’s “Raise the Bar: Lead the World,” an initiative driving increasing student attendance rates, summer and afterschool learning, and expanded tutoring. 
 
FAFSA Delays Continue to Cause Concern
The U.S. Department of Education (ED)  announced that universities would not receive student information from the new simplified FAFSA forms until March, due to delays related to processing the new form.  This announcement is causing concern within the higher education community due to the delay’s likely impact on institutions’ ability to make financial aid award offers to students ahead of enrollment commitment deadlines.  
 
In response, ED announced it will be making federal financial aid experts available to help lower-resources institutions process financial aid packages.  The agency is also planning to allocate $50 million to grant to non-profits to provide financial aid technical assistance for under-resourced universities.  ED also committed to releasing test versions of student financial aid information records ahead of the full data release for colleges to prepare the financial aid systems, reducing verification requirements for applicants, suspending routine program reviews, and extending recertification timelines for institutions with Program Participation Agreements expiring in March, June, or September 2024.
 
The on-going delays have caused bipartisan concern with education leaders on Capitol Hill. Ranking Member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee Bobby Scott (D-VA) sent a letter to ED Secretary Miguel Cardona highlighting how the benefits of the simplified FAFSA will be deferred due to the confusion and delays caused by the mishandled rollout and calling on ED to provide guidance to institutions, families, and high school counselors.  In addition, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced the Government Accountability Office would be investigating the rollout of the simplified FAFSA per the request of himself and his Republican colleagues.