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March 2019 | Lewis-Burke Associates LLC
A VIEW FROM WASHINGTON
The U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor recently approved a bill aimed at improving K-12 school infrastructure. The bill has been a priority for Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) who also announced plans to hold bipartisan hearings on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). More information on the hearings and HEA reauthorization efforts can be found below.
Negotiated rulemaking at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) continues. A motivating interest for the rulemaking is ED’s desire to make it easier for accrediting agencies to enter the accreditation space. Negotiators have been working on refining the “regular and substantive" interaction requirement as it applies to distance education courses. Another significant issue being addressed is ED’s proposal to allow a non-accredited provider to work with an institution to provide up to 100 percent of an academic program; the current standard is up to 50 percent. This proposal has been met with significant pushback from negotiators. ED also announced that the main “Accreditation and Innovation” committee will add a fourth session of meetings in April.
IN THIS ISSUE
CONGRESSIONAL UPDATES AND NEWS
House and Senate Move Forward on HEA
Senate Subcommittee on Investigations Holds “China's Impact on the U.S. Education System” Hearing
Higher Education Policy Legislative Update
ADMINISTRATION AND AGENCY UPDATES AND NEWS
New ED Leadership Over Federal Aid
Workforce Policy Board Update
ED’s Office of Inspector General Reveals Failure of Loan Service Providers
NSF Releases Production Engineering Education Research Solicitation
FACTS AND FIGURES
International Graduate Applications and Enrollment: Fall 2018
WHAT WE'RE READING
Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education: A Status Report
CONGRESSIONAL UPDATES AND NEWS
House and Senate Move Forward on HEA
U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) recently announced that they will hold five bipartisan hearings on higher education. A statement announcing the hearings noted, “[this] Joint announcement marks formal launch of effort to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA) in 116th Congress.” The five hearings will be:
- The Cost of College: Student Centered Reforms to Bring Higher Education Within Reach
- Strengthening Accountability in Higher Education to Better Serve Students and Taxpayers
- The Cost of Non-Completion: Improving Student Outcomes in Higher Education
- Engines of Economic Mobility: The Critical Role of Community Colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority-Serving Institutions in Preparing Students for Success
- Innovation to Improve Equity: Exploring High-Quality Pathways to a College Degree
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), recently announced her priorities for an HEA reauthorization. Her priorities include, "improving college affordability, holding schools accountable for student success, expanding access to higher education, and increasing campus safety and protecting students' civil rights." Major sticking points remain between Republicans and Democrats, but momentum is growing to reauthorize HEA. The Education and Labor Committee will host a hearing “The Cost of College: Student Centered Reforms to Bring Higher Education Within Reach" on March 13. The HELP committee will hold a hearing “Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Simplifying the FAFSA and Reducing the Burden of Verification” on March 12.
Sources and Additional Information:
Senate Subcommittee on Investigations Holds “China's Impact on the U.S. Education System” Hearing
On February 28, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s (HSGAC) Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) held a hearing entitled, “China's Impact on the U.S. Education System.” Although the hearing focused primarily on Confucius Institutes (CI), there were important implications for all institutions of higher education, particularly around immigration and Department of Education (ED) reporting. Two reports were released in conjunction with the hearing: a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, “CHINA Agreements Establishing Confucius Institutes at U.S. Universities Are Similar, but Institute Operations Vary,” and a PSI staff report, “China’s Impact On The U.S. Education System” were released in conjunction with the hearing.
A major theme expressed by Chairman Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ranking Member Thomas Carper (D-DE) was the need for increased transparency and reciprocity between institutions and China. Deputy Secretary of Education Mitchell Zais stated that ED sees CIs as a concern and that the agency intends to work with the Committee to address the issue. He also stated that ED is willing to work with schools to help craft acceptable agreements and that the agency will work to make schools aware of the recommendations included in the PSI staff and GAO reports. Deputy Secretary Zais stated that while there was no timeline from ED on updating the gift reporting guidance, an update would be forthcoming. He also noted that the statute regarding foreign gift reporting does not address gifts to foundations affiliated with institutions of higher education.
It is extremely likely that future legislation and policies will continue to focus on ways to combat perceived attempts by China to influence academia and research. In his written testimony, Deputy Undersecretary Zais noted that ED continues to confer with the U.S. Department of Defense to support the protection of U.S. intellectual property, a result of a directive included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. These types of directives will continue to be included in future legislation, with the potential to expand to visa and higher education legislation as well.
Sources and Additional Information:
Higher Education Policy Legislative Update
A number of higher education-related bills have been recently introduced. Many of these bills had been previously introduced in prior Congresses, and some may be package into a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) that House and Senate leaders are working to complete this year. Several bills of relevance to the higher education community are detailed below:
- H.R. 954/S. 303, GEAR UP for Success Act of 2019. This bill was introduced by Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Senator John Cornyn (D-TX), and has bipartisan cosponsors in both chambers. The bill aims to strengthen the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) and improve college readiness and success for underrepresented and low-income students.
- S. 328, Startup Act. This bill was introduced by Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA). The bill would allow 50,000 foreign students who earn an advanced degree in a STEM field to stay in the U.S. for a year after expiration of their student visa if they are seeking active engagement in a STEM field, and allow indefinite stay if they are actively engaged in a STEM field. Active engagement in a STEM field is defined as being gainfully employed in a STEM field, teaching STEM field courses at an institution of higher education, or being employed by a government entity. The bill would also authorize up to 75,000 visas for foreign entrepreneurs, eliminate the cap on employment-based visas per country, and set aside money in federal research budgets for commercialization activities, among other provisions.
- S. 468, Teachers and School LEADERS Act. This bill was introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA). The bill would allow Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grants to be used for principal and school leader preparation programs, and increases flexibility on what organizations can serve as the primary partner for high-needs grantee districts. The bill also requires the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) to evaluate the effectiveness of the TQP grants.
- H. R. 1298, Higher Education Dream Act of 2019. This bill was introduced by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). The bill would prohibit institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating against “Dreamer” students in admissions, enrollment, tuition rate, or any other way as a result of their immigration status. The bill would also expand eligibility requirements for federal student aid to include Dreamers.
ADMINISTRATION AND AGENCY UPDATES AND NEWS
New ED Leadership Over Federal Aid
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos named retired Air Force Major General Mark A. Brown as Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Office (FSA). Brown recently served as Deputy Commander of the Air Education and Training Command.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee recently advanced the nomination of Robert L. King for Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education at the Department of Education, but his nomination still needs full Senate approval.
Sources and Additional Information:
Workforce Policy Board Update
Members of the Trump Administration’s American Workforce Policy Advisory Board (Board) were announced on February 13. The Board was created by a July 2018 Executive Order (EO) from President Trump which established the President’s National Council for the American Worker (Council). The EO noted, “The Board shall advise the Council on the workforce policy of the United States. Specific activities of the Board shall include… recommending steps to encourage the private sector and educational institutions to combat the skills crisis by investing in and increasing demand-driven education, training, and re-training, including through apprenticeships and work-based learning opportunities.” Members of the Board include: Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the President; Walter Bumphus, President & CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges; Tim Cook, CEO of Apple; Kim Reynolds, Governor of Iowa, and Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, among others.
At the first meeting of the board on March 6, Ivanka Trump discussed the challenges that AI and automation pose to the U.S. workforce and the need for the federal government to enact policies to assist students and workers' transition into the new workforce. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross spoke on the need to reform our education and job training system to better return laid off workers and older Americans to the workforce. Ivanka Trump, Secretary Ross, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination Chris Liddell laid out four goals of the Board:
- Develop a campaign to promote multiple pathways to career success;
- Increase data transparency to better match American workers with American open jobs;
- Modernize candidate recruitment and training practices; and
- Measure and encourage employer-led training and re-skilling investments.
Sources and Additional Information:
ED’s Office of Inspector General Reveals Failure of Loan Service Providers
On February 14, ED’s Office of Inspector General, the agency’s federal watchdog, released a report that found ED’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) unit failed to adequately supervise loan service companies that oversee federal student loans. Based on oversight records from January 2015 to September 2017, the report found that all nine loan servicers failed to follow the rules, most notably by not refunding money to borrowers. Some other loan servicer failures from the report included not telling borrowers all of their repayment options and miscalculating repayment plans. The Office also noted that ED ignored the consistent failure of servicers that have the potential to cause "increased interest or repayment costs incurred by borrowers, the missed opportunity for more borrowers to take advantage of certain repayment programs, negative effects on borrowers' credit ratings, and an increased likelihood of delinquency or even default."
Sources and Additional Information:
NSF Releases Production Engineering Education Research Solicitation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released a solicitation for its new program Production Engineering Education Research (PEER) that is supported by funding from The Boeing Company. The solicitation is part of the Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate Core Research (ECR) program and looks to improve advanced manufacturing training. NSF welcomes two tracks of proposals: Track 1 is titled Course, Curriculum and Evaluation and would fund the creation of online curricula, and Track 2 is for Workforce Development Workshops. PEER supports education in production manufacturing though five focal areas: “model-based systems engineering, software engineering, mechatronics, data science, and artificial intelligence.”
This program builds on recent NSF workforce development and reskilling initiatives including a December 2018 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on STEM Workforce Development Utilizing Flexible Personal Learning Environments. On February 8, NSF released another opportunity connected to support from Boeing with a DCL on Supporting the Re-Entry of Women and Women Veterans in the STEM Workforce through NSF INCLUDES. This program is also emblematic of NSF’s increasing interest in public-private partnerships to leverage industry and foundation funding. Full proposals are due by May 15, 2019 at 5:00 PM submitter’s local time.
Sources and Additional Information:
FACTS AND FIGURES
International Graduate Applications and Enrollment: Fall 2018
"Uncertainty over U.S. visa policies, political rhetoric regarding immigration, and strained relations with China have emerged as potential impediments to the continued free flow of international scholars and graduate students."
Source: Okahana, H., & Zhou, E. (2019). International graduate applications and enrollment: Fall 2018. Washington, DC: Council of Graduate Schools.
WHAT WE'RE READING
Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education: A Status Report
"This report examines over 200 indicators, looking at who gains access to a variety of educational environments and experiences, and how these trajectories and their outcomes differ by race and ethnicity. These data provide a foundation from which the higher education community and its many stakeholders can draw insights, raise new questions, and make the case for why race still matters in American higher education."
The full report can be accessed at https://www.equityinhighered.org/. |
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