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Education and Workforce Policy Newsletter

January 7, 2022 — Lewis-Burke Associates LLC

Washington, D.C. is ringing in the New Year with a slew of legislative and executive actions on deck that will impact education and workforce policies nationwide.  In Congress, negotiations on the Build Back Better Act are stalled as Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) continues to express concerns about the cost of President Biden’s signature domestic agenda bill.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has indicated his desire to continue negotiations on the legislation and hold a vote on it in the Senate by the end of January.  There is a chance that existing provisions, such as universal pre-k, investments in teacher preparation and professional development, and investment in workforce development programs may be cut in order to lower the cost of the bill.  In addition to the Build Back Better Act, Congress needs to wrap up work on fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations before the continuing resolution (CR) that is currently funding the government expires on February 18.  If FY 2022 appropriations are finalized, student aid, teacher preparation, institutional aid for Minority-Serving Institutions, and funds for education research are expected to receive an increase. 

The Biden Administration will also be busy with education and workforce policy in 2022.  The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is expected to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking for Title IX by April and hopes to promulgate a new final rule in 2022. In addition to Title IX, ED is expected to continue negotiated rulemaking on a host of other topics announced in 2021, including the 90-10 rule, gainful employment, and change in control of institutions of higher education, among other issues. 

In addition to a robust regulatory agenda, the Biden Administration recently announced an extension of the pause on federal student loan payments through May 1, 2022 in response to the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Still unclear is how and whether, institutions as large employers, federal contractors, or health care delivery facilities will have to comply with federal vaccine or COVID testing requirements.  These rules are currently being challenged in federal courts on their legality. 

IN THIS ISSUE

CONGRESSIONAL UPDATES AND NEWS 
 
Congressional Focus on Defense-Education Issues
The nexus of defense and education has been a focus in recent months of this Congress, primarily with issues regarding veterans education, critical race theory (CRT), and foreign gift reporting.  The REMOTE Act, signed into law by President Biden on December 21, modifies educational assistance provisions for veteran students.  Specifically, the law will extend remote learning waivers and full housing benefits for student veterans, as well as increase the number of counselors at Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities for assistance of veteran students and employees.  It also changes language found in the Isakson and Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 and the THRIVE Act which prohibited the use of incentive-based compensation for international student recruitment.  The reversal of that language is a relief to those in the academic field who believed it would cause the U.S. to be less of a competitor in the recruitment of international students.  

President Biden also signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law in December.  The bill set the authorized funding amount for the Department of Defense for fiscal year (FY) 2022 which included a $40 million increase for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority institutions (HBCU/MI) basic research program.  Language proposed but kept out of the final bill signed into law included the provision to extend eligibility for educational assistance through the G.I. bill in situations of temporary or permanent closure of an educational institution.  Also not included was a provision that would require all DOD contractors to review all materials for evidence of influences of CRT.  While provisions regarding Section 117, focused on foreign gift giving, was not included in the final version of the NDAA, modifications are included in the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which is expected to be conferenced later this year.

NEA Chair Confirmed; Other Biden Admin Nominations Resubmitted
Of interest to institutions with museums and arts programs, Congress confirmed, prior to leaving town for the holidays, Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson to be Chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts, making her both the first African American and Mexican American woman to lead the agency. With a background in exploring impacts of the arts on underserved communities and the intersection of arts and health while at Arizona State University, Chairwoman Jackson is likely to continue or expand the agency’s priorities in making the arts more accessible for all Americans. 

With the first session of the 117th Congress ending at the end of 2021, many Biden Administration nominations awaiting confirmation expired, requiring renomination by the President. Notably exempted from this process was Shelly Lowe, nominee for Chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), who was included in a deal between Congressional leaders to allow certain nominees to avoid the renomination process. The Biden Administration renominated Dr. Amy Loyd to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Career, Technical, and Adult Education, and Jose Javier Rodriguez to lead the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training.

Legislative Bills of Note
  • S. 3360/ H.R. 6205 (Senator Jack Reed, D-RI; Rep. Alma Adams, D-NC) Educators for America Act.  This legislation would annually authorize $500 million for grants to states that develop strategies to meet their educator workforce needs and another $500 million to enhance educator preparation programs.  The full press release from Senator Reed can be found here.
  • S. 3359 (Senator Robert Casey, D-PA) CREATE Graduates Act.  This legislation authorizes competitive grants for institutions to help identify students that have earned, or will soon earn, the credits needed to complete an associates degree and allow for those students’ credits to be reverse transferred.  The full press release from Senator Casey can be found here.
  • H.R. 6349 (Rep. Joe Neguse, D-CO) Teachers are Leaders Act.  This legislation would authorize the Secretary of Education to create grants to establish teacher leader development programs to help maintain teachers and increase academic achievement of students.
  • H.R. 6108 (Rep. Robin Kelly, D-IL) Community College to Career Fund in Higher Education Act.  This legislation would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) in order to support community colleges, industry partnerships, and for other purposes including the creation of a Community College and Industry Partnerships Grant Program.
ADMINISTRATION AND AGENCY UPDATES AND NEWS

ED and DOL Regulatory Agendas
Twice a year, federal agencies are required to publish a list of potential regulatory actions and rules they intend to take.  Recently the Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL) announced their regulatory agendas.  ED has noted its intention to issue rules relating to rescinding parts of the Religious Liberty and Free Inquiry Rule, which placed additional requirements on institutions regarding the promotion of free speech and academic freedom.  ED also announced that it will likely pursue regulatory action related to Title IX enforcement, TRIO, and other regulatory updates.  DOL has noted its intention to issue a rule regarding a standard definition of the effectiveness in serving employers performance indicator as part of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.  Other DOL regulatory efforts include continued efforts to eliminate Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs).

ED Concludes Affordability and Student Loan Focused Negotiated Rulemaking Process
The Department of Education (ED) convened for the last time in late December to finish their Affordability and Students Loans Committee negotiated rulemaking process.  Negotiators reached consensus on only four out of the 12 topics discussed including new regulatory language on Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated individuals, total and permanent disability discharge, eliminating interest capitalization for non-statutory capitalization events, and false certification discharge.  In contrast, the other eight topics where consensus was not reached included language surrounding income-driven repayments (IDR) and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), which ED and negotiators had stark disagreements.  With the negotiations now complete, ED will now begin drafting regulatory language that includes the consensus language in the four areas where agreement was reached as they are obligated to do so.  As for the areas without consensus, ED is free to draft regulatory language as they see fit.  The draft language will be published for public comment and after public comments are reviewed, ED will then draft final rules.  Final regulations, if published on or before November 1, 2022, will go into effect July 1, 2023. 

ED Finalizes Priorities and Definitions for Discretionary Grants Programs
In December, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published its priorities for its discretionary grant programs, to be effective January 10, 2022.  These priorities include:
  • Priority 1—Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Students, Educators, and Faculty;
  • Priority 2—Promoting Equity in Student Access to Educational Resources and Opportunities;
  • Priority 3—Supporting a Diverse Educator Workforce and Professional Growth To Strengthen Student Learning;
  • Priority 4—Meeting Student Social, Emotional, and Academic Needs;
  • Priority 5—Increasing Postsecondary Education Access, Affordability, Completion, and Post-Enrollment Success; and
  • Priority 6—Strengthening Cross-Agency Coordination and Community Engagement To Advance Systemic Change.

The Department also published definitions for use in its discretionary grant programs.  Efforts that will be supported by the priorities and definitions include, “Supporting re-entry of, and improving long-term outcomes for, youth and adults after release from juvenile justice system or correctional facilities,” “Increasing the number of diverse educator candidates who have access to an evidence-based comprehensive educator preparation program,” “Preparing educators to implement project-based or experiential learning opportunities,” and “Establishing cross-agency partnerships, or community-based partnerships with local nonprofit organizations, businesses, philanthropic organizations, or others, to meet family well-being needs” among other initiatives.

Funding Opportunities

Annual Title III and V Designation Application and Waiver Released 
This past month, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released the annual Title III and Title V eligible institution designation application and waiver.  The notice and application for eligibility waivers is necessary for official ED designation for programs for minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) institutions authorized under Title III and Title V of the Higher Education Act, among others.  These include programs such as the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) program, the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (PPOHA) program, the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) program.  Institutions not automatically designated as eligible can apply for an eligibility waiver or reconsideration.  Institutions can check eligibility at https://HEPIS.ed.gov/.  The application and waiver deadline is January 21, 2022.  

NSF Releases STEM Postdoctoral Research Fellowships Opportunity
The Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) within the National Science Foundation (NSF) released the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed PRF) program which focuses on funding opportunities that work towards advancing the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctoral graduates in STEM, STEM Education, Education, and related disciplines.  Two tracks are offered, (I) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowships for individual applications and (II) Institutional Cohort Postdoctoral Fellowships for a collaboration of universities.
 
NSF estimates granting six to ten Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards and two to four Institutional Cohort Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards.  Individual awards would expect to receive up to $300,000 with a duration of up to 24 months and Institutional awards would expect to receive up to $1,250,000 for awards to single institutions or up to $2,500,000 for awards to collaborating institutions, with a period of performance of up to 36 months.  Details of eligibility for each track and further information regarding the program can be found here.  Full proposals are due no later than March 1, 2022 at 5:00 PM of the submitter’s local time.

IES Releases Solicitation on Improving Pandemic Recovery Efforts in Education Agencies
The Institute of Education Sciences’ (IES) National Center for Education Research (NCER) within the Department of Education (ED) released the Improving Pandemic Recovery Efforts in Education Agencies program solicitation, which focuses on funding opportunities that support the establishment of two research networks that examine recovery activities at education agencies.  NCER will consider topics that address either a Pre-K through Grade 12 Recovery Research Network or the Community College Recovery Research Network.  Each research network application needs to include a network lead and research teams in order to apply. 

ED estimates granting up to five research team awards and one network lead award for both the Pre-K through Grade 12 Recovery Research Network and the Community College Recovery Research Network.  Both Recovery Research Networks would expect to receive up to $3,000,000 for research team grants and $3,000,000 for the network lead grants for a project period of up to 60 months.  There is no cost sharing requirement for this award.  Details of eligibility for the Recovery Research Networks can be found here.  Full proposals are due by March 10, 2022 at 11:59 PM ET.

OPE Releases FY 2022 Upward Bound Program Solicitation
The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) within the Department of Education (ED) issued a notice of inviting applications (NIA) for the Upward Bound Program (UB) for fiscal year (FY) 2022.  The UB program is one of the seven Federal TRIO Programs and focuses on supporting projects that provide skills and inspiration for students to complete in programs of secondary education to then succeed in postsecondary education programs.  The program includes the following three competitive preference priorities:

  • Competitive Preference Priority 1 (up to 3 points): Applications that Demonstrate a Rationale.
    • Applicants must propose projects that demonstrate a rationale (as defined in the notice).
  • Competitive Preference Priority 2: Meeting Student Social, Emotional and Academic Needs.
    • Applicants must design projects that improve students’ social, emotional, and academic development needs with a focus on addressing learning barriers and supporting underserved students.
  • Competitive Preference Priority 3: Strengthening Cross-Agency Coordination and Community Engagement to Advance Systemic Change.
    • Applicants must design projects that improve outcomes for underserved students using a systemic evidence-based approach by creating partnerships with, and not limited to, community-based local nonprofit organizations, cross-agency entities, or others to meet family well-being needs.
It is noted that the Administration has requested nearly $1.3 billion for new awards for the Federal TRIO Programs in FY 2022 in which the UB Program would receive around $355 million.  OPE anticipates to award 966 awards with an estimated funding amount of $287,537-$981,028 for a project period of up to 60 months. There is no cost sharing requirement for this award.  All institutions of higher education are eligible to apply.  Applications are due no later than January 31, 2022.  Further details regarding the program and eligibility requirements can be found here.

OPE Opens Applications for FLAS Program
The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) within the Department of Education (ED) issued a notice inviting applications (NIA) for the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships (FLAS) Program for fiscal year (FY) 2022.  The program produces fellowships for institutions of higher education (IHEs) to help undergraduate and graduate students receive foreign language training in different areas of study.  The program includes two competitive preference priorities, which ask applicants to do the following:
  • Competitive Preference Priority 1: FLAS Fellowships for Students Who Demonstrate Financial Need
  • Competitive Preference Priority 2: Academic Year FLAS Fellowships Awarded in the Less Commonly Taught Languages
    • Applicants must propose a plan to award at least 25 percent of academic year FLAS fellowships in modern foreign languages other than French, German, and Spanish.
OPE anticipates awarding 100 awards with an estimated funding amount of $154,500-$351,000 per year.  Not all funding will be awarded in FY 2022, but ED may make additional awards in FYs 2023, 2024, and 2025 from the list of unfunded applications from this competition.  There is no required cost sharing and the period of performance is set for 48 months.  Applications are due no later than February 14, 2022.  Further details of the program can be found here.

FACTS AND FIGURES: Nation’s Teachers More Diverse but Still Lag Racial, Ethnic Makeup of Students

Source: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/01/nations-teachers-more-diverse-but-still-lag-racial-ethnic-makeup-of-students.html
WHAT WE'RE READING

Seven Higher Education Trends to Watch in 2022

Higher Ed Dive did a look into what trends the higher education communities should expect entering into 2022.  The last two years have been surrounded by uncertainty with the coronavirus causing massive changes and obstacles to the system.  This report predicts that more change is coming, specifically in these seven areas: 
  1. Efforts to reverse slumping enrollment
  2. Can colleges avoid being drawn into a partisan fray?
  3. Where federal aid and state budgets go
  4. Biden administration plans
  5. How much will campuses need to scramble because of COVID-19?
  6. Can ed tech providers build on their momentum?
  7. Testing in admissions
Further details on each of these predicted trends can be found in the full article here.
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