CDC Reduces School Physical Distancing Guidance to Three Feet

DC Shuttle ... Hearings/Markups of Interest. The House Education and Labor’s Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education will hold a hearing Charting the Path to Educational Equity Post-COVID-19 on Thursday, March 25 at 1 p.m. via Zoom. CDC Releases Updated School Safety Guidelines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidelines for phys...

NEBHE Reports on Results of Pandemic-Shaped Elections

The New England states set new records for voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election. A significant percentage of absentee, mail-in ballots were cast in each state, ranging from 20% to 50% of the total vote. City and town clerks attributed the rising share of absentee, mail-in ballots to COVID. In the race for president, Democrat Joe Biden won all six New England states. Members of the re...

House Panel Will Explore Higher Ed’s Post-COVID Future

DC Shuttle ... Hearings/Markups of Interest. The House Education and Labor's Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment, will hold a hearing on The Future of Higher Education Post COVID-19 on Wednesday, March 17 at 1 p.m. via Zoom. Congress Passes, President Signs American Rescue Plan. President Joe Biden signed the law the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.86 trillion COVID-19 a...

Tuition Break Enrollment Increased at 40% of Institutions in Fall 2020 Despite Challenging Year

The 2020-21 academic year was a year like no other as a pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions on college campuses. New England colleges and universities responded with agility as they worked to ensure safe campus operations for students, faculty and staff, while continuing to offer their programs through hybrid, in-classroom and remote formats. COVID-19 had a significant impact throughout t...

Welcoming Relief, a New Ed Secretary and Reopened Schools

DC Shuttle ... Senate Passes $1.9 Trillion Relief Measure. The U.S. Senate passed coronavirus relief legislation with $1.9 trillion in funding by a vote of 50 to 49, The Hill reports. The bill provides $128.6 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund and $39.6 billion to the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. It also includes $39 billion for childcare and $1 bil...

TIAA Names JP Morgan Chase Exec to Top Spot

Comings and Goings ... TIAA named JPMorgan Chase CEO of  Consumer Banking Thasunda Brown Duckett to succeed Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., as president and CEO of the century-old provider of retirement investments and other financial services for people working in the academic, research, medical, cultural and government fields. As Boston City Council President Kim Janey prepares to become acti...

$1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill Clears House, with Senate Likely to Nix Minimum Wage Increase

DC Shuttle ... House Passes Coronavirus Relief Bill. The U.S. House passed $1.9 trillion pandemic relief legislation, the American Rescue Plan Act (HR 1319), by a vote of 219 to 212. The bill would authorize direct payments to households, extend unemployment insurance benefits and provide funding to states and localities, schools, transit systems, restaurants, vaccine distribution and virus tes...

Just Browsing … Some Facts and Figures from the NEJHE Beat

Number of middle school students in afterschool programs, 2014: 2,300,000 Afterschool Alliance Number in 2020: 1,800,000 Afterschool Alliance Percentage of U.S. households with K–12 students that shifted to some form of online learning during the pandemic: 70%+ Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce Percentage of households with incomes below $25,000 where the internet was a...

House Hones American Rescue Plan

DC Shuttle ... House Moving Forward on Relief Package. Democratic leaders are working to pass the American Rescue Plan Act through the budget reconciliation process. House committees have been working on their areas of jurisdiction, with the full House potentially considering the legislation next week. The House Budget and Rules Committee plans to meet this week to put the pieces together. ...

A Different Look Into the Labor Pool

NEBHE offers a regional analysis of national Counting Credentials report ... The U.S. is in the midst of one of the most severe economic recessions in history, and now more than ever, it is important to acknowledge all possible pathways to gainful employment. On Feb. 10, 2021, Credential Engine released its third Counting Credentials report, which compiled and described the array of available c...