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June 5, 2018 | Lewis-Burke Associates LLC
A VIEW FROM WASHINGTON
Accreditation, apprenticeships, and state authorization of distance learning are among the education issues D.C. policymakers have been considering lately. The Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion, created by an executive order from President Trump, recently released its final report. The report includes recommendations on how to expand apprenticeships and makes the claim that, “… the American higher education system is churning out a pool of in-debt job seekers who are not equipped to meet the skills needs of many employers in the modern American economy.” U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has indicated she will continue the sweeping overhaul of higher education regulations. The U.S. Department of Education recently announced the postponement of the " state authorization" rules for distance education providers. The delay will allow the Department to conduct negotiated rulemaking to reconsider and possibly revise the final regulations.
Two subcommittees of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held their second joint hearing on free speech on college campuses. The hearing, “ Challenges To The Freedom Of Speech On College Campuses: PART II,” considered various topics including disinvitations, bias response teams, free speech zones, and other issues. The Chairman of the U.S. Senate committee with oversight of higher education recently announced it is unlikely that his committee will take up a Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization because “the Democrats won't do it.” The committee’s leading Democrat responded by saying she “wants to reauthorize the Higher Education Act as soon as possible.” Rumors continue to circulate around a possible vote on the Republican House HEA reauthorization, the PROSPER Act, sometime in June.
Moody’s Investors Service is reporting declining student enrollment, including international student enrollment, will likely result in tuition revenue declines for university budgets in fiscal year 2018.
IN THIS ISSUE
CONGRESSIONAL UPDATES AND NEWS
President Trump’s Education Nominees Move Forward in Confirmation Process
Secretary DeVos Makes First Appearance Before House Education Committee
Legislation to Expand Endowment Tax Introduced
ADMINISTRATION AND AGENCY UPDATES AND NEWS
ED Announces FY 2019 Education and Special Education Research Grant Opportunities
ED Invites Applications for Title VI International Education Grant Programs
Higher Education Regulatory Rewrite
New Academies Reports on Improving STEM, Arts, and Humanities Education
Stricter Policies Proposed for Foreign Students and Scholars
2018 National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Conference and Expo
FACTS AND FIGURES
Number of Bachelor's Degrees Conferred in Selected Fields of Study, 2001-2016
WHAT WE'RE READING
Varying Degrees: New America’s Annual Survey on Higher Education
CONGRESSIONAL UPDATES AND NEWS
President Trump’s Education Nominees Move Forward in Confirmation Process
The U.S. Senate and the Trump Administration have moved forward with filling key positions at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) over the last month. President Trump’s nominee to be Deputy Secretary of Education, Mitchell “Mick” Zais, was confirmed solely with Republican support in a vote of 50-48 on May 16. Zais, who becomes Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ second in command, previously served as the president of Newberry College, and later as superintendent of South Carolina schools.
The U.S. Senate has also moved forward with the nomination of Kenneth Marcus to the position of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights within ED. The Senate agreed to debate and vote on the nomination of Marcus, who was previously delegated this authority during the Bush Administration. The Trump Administration also nominated Scott Stump, the former assistant provost for career and technical education for Colorado community colleges, to serve as Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical and Adult Education.
Sources and Additional Information:
Secretary DeVos Makes First Appearance Before House Education Committee
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos appeared before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce at a hearing entitled “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Education.” The hearing covered a broad range of issues facing the U.S. Department of Education (ED), including school safety, higher education, civil rights, and other issues. During the hearing, Secretary DeVos noted that the current Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization bill that was approved by the House education committee was aligned with the Trump Administration’s priorities for higher education. The bill, known as the PROSPER Act (H.R. 4508), proposes to eliminate several student aid programs, reduce funding for certain student support programs, and expand Pell eligibility for new, short-term certificate programs. Secretary DeVos also disclosed that rulemaking for Title IX campus safety regulations would be released in the coming months.
Sources and Additional Information:
Legislation to Expand Endowment Tax Introduced
More than two years after initially proposing that universities either focus endowment spending on student aid support or face hefty tax fines, Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) recently introduced the Reducing Excessive Debt and Unfair Costs of Education (REDUCE) Act. The bill would require institutions with assets of at least $500,000 per student and 500 enrolled students to commit one quarter of all investment returns to support student financial aid for “working-family” students or face an excise tax on the undistributed required payout. While the legislation is unlikely to be considered this Congress, it does reflect the strong concern of congressional members over the cost of college.
Sources and Additional Information:
ADMINISTRATION AND AGENCY UPDATES AND NEWS
ED Announces FY 2019 Education and Special Education Research Grant Opportunities
The U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has announced its fiscal year (FY) 2019 competitions for education research and special education research. Congressional appropriations for FY 2019 are currently unknown, but IES is expected to have enough funding in FY 2019 to make new awards.
IES National Center for Education Research (NCER) will administer five competitions for grants pertaining to specific topic areas. The five competitions are: Education Research; Education Research and Development Centers; Statistical and Research Methodology in Education; Partnerships and Collaborations focused on Problems of Practice or Policy; and Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluation of Education Interventions. IES National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) will administer four competitions in the following research areas of interest: Special Education Research; Research Training in Special Education; Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluation of Special Education Interventions; and Research Networks Focused on Critical Programs of Policy and Practice. Further information on the specific topics is included in the full write-up below.
Sources and Additional Information:
ED Invites Applications for Title VI International Education Grant Programs
Last month, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued notices inviting applications (NIA) for several fiscal year (FY) 2018 Title VI International Education grant programs. These programs support undergraduate and graduate education and research in foreign language, international studies, and area studies through funding to institutions of higher education. ED is soliciting applications for the following programs: the National Resource Center (NRC) grant program, the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship program, the Centers for International Business Education (CIBE) program, the Language Resource Centers (LRC) program, the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research program, and the Fulbright-Hays Group-Projects Abroad program. ED will officially announce the FY 2018 call for the Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program shortly. Application deadlines range from late June through July.
Sources and Additional Information:
Higher Education Regulatory Rewrite
Numerous federal regulations governing the implementation of higher education laws and policies are being considered for revision by the Trump Administration. Under U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, regulations on gainful employment and borrower defense are already in the process of being rewritten. The Spring 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions lists regulations that federal agencies intend to consider. Of relevance for higher education institutions and organizations are proposals to amend regulations governing accreditation, credit hour, competency-based education, distance education, and other higher education regulations.
Sources and Additional Information:
- Department of Education regulations that may be considered for rewrite can be found at
https://bit.ly/2xQBega.
New Academies Reports on Improving STEM, Arts, and Humanities Education
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released two new reports of interest this month. On May 29, NASEM announced the report entitled Graduate STEM Education for the 21stCentury. The report, sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Education (ED), lays out a vision of the ideal STEM graduate education system in which students would acquire both deep specialization in an area of interest and broader technical (e.g. computational, data analytics) and professional (e.g. teamwork, communication) skills. The report stresses that in an ideal system, students would be encouraged to explore diverse career options outside of the traditional academic pathway and prospective students would have access to data about educational costs and career outcomes.
Earlier in May, NASEM released the consensus study report, The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine, which examines the move toward and the value of educational programming that integrates and bridges academic disciplines. This report, which was sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), noted positive learning outcomes of programs and courses that integrate arts and humanities with STEM and health fields. The report outlined barriers to integration of disciplines within the current structure of academia and offered recommendations for institutions, accreditors, and external funders to advance further integrative teaching, learning, and research activities.
Sources and Additional Information:
Stricter Policies Proposed for Foreign Students and Scholars
The Trump Administration continued its efforts to revise the U.S. immigration system. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced through a draft policy memorandum that it proposes modifying the procedures for calculating unlawful presence of nonimmigrant students, professors, or visitors on F, J, and M visas. Under the proposed guidance, which are to take effect on August 9, the clock on unlawful presence would start accruing when the visa holder first fell out of compliance. USCIS had previously begun unlawful presence calculations when the violation was discovered or officially found by USCIS. Individuals who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence risk a three-year or 10-year ban to admission to the U.S. Public comments on the policy change will be accepted through June 11, 2018.
The Trump Administration’s Spring 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions included a proposed rule change to the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notes that, “ICE [Immigration and Custom Enforcement] will propose this rule to improve protections of U.S. workers who may be negatively impacted by employment of nonimmigrant students on F and M visas. The rule is a comprehensive reform of practical training options intended to reduce fraud and abuse.” The rule change announcement is expected to be released in October 2018. This comes on the heels of changes announced in January by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that employment at third-party client sites is no longer allowed under the new interpretation of OPT regulations.
Sources and Additional Information:
2018 National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Conference and Expo
The National Institute of Standards and Technology's NICE Conference 2018 program committee is seeking timely and thought-provoking presentations for the annual conference and expo. Proposals from a diverse array of organizations and individuals are being sought, including non-profits, institutions of higher education, research centers, and training and certification providers. Topics should attempt to align with the goals and objectives of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Strategic Plan and, where appropriate, consider uses of the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework. NICE is a program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Sources and Additional Information:
FACTS AND FIGURES
Number of bachelor's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions in selected fields of study: Academic years 2000–01 through 2015–16
Postsecondary institutions conferred approximately 1.9 million bachelor's degrees in 2015–16. Over half were concentrated in six fields of study: business (19 percent, or 372,000 degrees), health professions and related programs (12 percent, or 229,000 degrees), social sciences and history (8 percent, or 161,000 degrees), psychology (6 percent, or 117,000 degrees), biological and biomedical sciences (6 percent, or 114,000 degrees), and engineering (6 percent, or 107,000 degrees). Overall, 355,000 bachelor's degrees (18 percent) were conferred in STEM fields.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2001 through Fall 2016, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2012, table 313; and Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 322.10.
WHAT WE'RE READING
Varying Degrees: New America’s Annual Survey on Higher Education
Top findings include:
- Americans are split about whether there are lots of well-paying jobs that do not require a college degree. About half (51 percent) agree that there are lots of well-paying jobs that do not require college attendance.
- There is wide agreement (75 percent), however, that it is easier to be successful with a degree than without.
- Only a quarter of Americans agree that our higher education system is functioning fine just the way it is.
- Over half (57 percent) of Americans believe that colleges and universities should help their students succeed.
Read the report at https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/varying-degrees/.
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