DC Shuttle …
Hearings & Markups of Interest
(Due to current limited access to the U.S. Capitol complex, the general public is encouraged to view this hearing via the live stream.)
The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Oversight Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Expanding Access to Higher Education and the Promise It Holds on Thursday, June 29 at 2 p.m.
Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on Campus Vaccination. The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on returning to campus and school and how schools can encourage vaccination. Witnesses told the committee that messages must be crafted and delivered from trusted sources of information, and students must have convenient access if campuses are going to overcome COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Witnesses also told lawmakers that social media misinformation was a barrier to getting more people vaccinated. Lawmakers expressed concern that different colleges currently have different approaches and requirements regarding vaccination, which they feared would drive additional confusion and resistance.
Ed Dept Begins Rule Making Review. The U.S. Department of Education began its negotiated rule-making process, holding the first of three days of public hearings on federal student aid regulations. The department asked for a review of topics for possible regulation, including some recent department rules such as borrower defense to repayment, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, gainful employment and loan discharges. The department is also accepting written comments until July 1. Following the public hearings, the department will accept nominations for nonfederal negotiators to serve on the negotiated rule-making committees. The committees are expected to convene later this summer, Inside Higher Ed reports.
We publish the DC Shuttle each week Congress is in session featuring higher ed news from Washington collected by the New England Council, of which NEBHE is a member. This edition is drawn from the Higher Education Update in the Council’s Weekly Washington Report of June 28, 2021. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.
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