Last Friday, the National Institute of Health (NIH) approved a broad implementation plan for a set of initiatives intended to strengthen and shape the biomedical research workforce based on the recommendations of the NIH Biomedical Workforce Working Group. The plan calls for institutions to create individual development plans for all research trainees and to track outcomes for all research trainee...
STEM visa bill doesn't move in Senate. While STEM Visa legislation passed the House of Representatives last Friday, the STEM Jobs Act was not considered by the Senate due to the objection of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY). The bill passed the House by a near party-line vote of 245-139, and consideration by the Senate was proposed by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). The bill would offer visas for skilled immi...
On Friday, the House voted 245-139 to pass the STEM Jobs Act (H.R. 6249). The bill would offer visas for skilled immigrants who earn advanced degrees from American institutions. Many Democrats are opposed to the bill because it includes the abrogation of the diversity immigration program, which allocates visas by lottery. The 55,000 visas originally distributed by the diversity program would be re...
Sequestration on education. Sequestration remains the greatest concern for education funding in the immediate future. State school board leaders went on the offensive last week to highlight the threat to education. Education funding has not been the focus of fiscal cliff discussions and is largely swept into the larger picture when discussing sequestration. The administration estimates an 8% to 9%...
STEM visa bill fails On Thursday, a proposal to increase the number of visas offered to immigrants with advanced degrees in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) from American schools failed to pass the House. The bill (H.R. 6429) needed a two-thirds vote of members in order to be passed on the House suspension calendar. It fell shy of the two-thirds mark, rejected by a ...
New Hampshire, Maine Request NCLB Waivers On Monday, officials in New Hampshire and Maine submitted requests for flexibility from the standards of No Child Left Behind. With this action, all six New England States have made formal requests for flexibility. Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts have had their requests approved already. Vermont, however, made a formal request but subseque...
On Monday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a report on the for-profit college sector. The report, entitled "For Profit Higher Education: The Failure to Safeguard the Federal Investment and Ensure Student Success" is critical of industry practices and details marketing and recruiting strategies as well as graduation rates and debt burdens. According t...
On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security held a hearing on preventing student visa fraud and addressing "sham" institutions that commit fraud to attain visas and enroll foreign students. The hearing was held in response to a report released last month by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticizing U.S. Immigration and Cu...
The FY 2013 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill adopted by a House Appropriations subcommittee panel on Wednesday would reduce funding for the U.S. Department of Education by $1.1 billion from 2012 levels and eliminate funding for the Obama administration's Race to the Top Program. It would also rescind $400 million in unspent appropriations for the Race to the Top program in 2012. In other ar...
On July 6, the states of Washington and Wisconsin were granted waivers by the U.S. Department of Education from the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota and Utah had waivers approved on June 29. Twenty-six states have now been granted waivers while 10 states and the District of Columbia still await decisions regarding their applications ...
Last Friday, the National Institute of Health (NIH) approved a broad implementation plan for a set of initiatives intended to strengthen and shape the biomedical research workforce based on the recommendations of the NIH Biomedical Workforce Working Group. The plan calls for institutions to create individual development plans for all research trainees and to track outcomes for all research trainee...