DC Shuttle ...
Senate Releases Tax Bill. The Republican-led U.S. Senate released a tax bill that would impose a new 1.4% excise tax on the earnings of endowments at private universities. The new tax, which is also in the House bill, would apply only to private, not public, universities that have at least 500 students and endowment assets of at least $250,000 per student. The Senate bill would kee...
DC Shuttle ...
Executive Order Extends Presidential Commissions on Education. President Trump signed an executive order extending three presidential advisory commissions on education until Sept. 30, 2019. All three had been set to expire over the weekend. Trump's order extends the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, the President's Advisory Commission on Educ...
DC Shuttle ...
DeVos Visits HBCU, Trump Questions HBCU Funding. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited Bethune-Cookman University to deliver its commencement address. She was met with controversy as hundreds of graduating seniors booed and turned their backs on her, the NY Times reports. The Trump administration has had a rocky start with HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities)...
DC Shuttle ...
Senate Committee Holds King Confirmation Hearing. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a confirmation hearing for Acting Secretary of Education John King. The acting secretary testified in front of the committee for about two hours and answered questions on topics including the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), campus sexual...
DC Shuttle ...
White House Budget Includes Education Proposals. President Obama sent his final budget request to Congress. The budget includes many education-focused proposals including expanding Pell Grants, new tax credits for companies that invest in community colleges, and hiring new enforcement officials at the Department of Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the budg...
DC Shuttle ...
Hearings Begin on HEA Reauthorization. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held its first hearing of the 114th Congress on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA). The hearing marks the beginning of efforts by new Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to reauthorize HEA. Tuesday's hearing focused on a report released last Friday by the Task Force on Fed...
College value ranking lists on the rise. The New York Times reported that rankings of colleges' value, based on cost compared to returns, are increasing.
Children's hospitals graduate medical education payment program. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved by voice vote legislation (S. 1557) that would reauthorize a program that provides federal money to suppo...
Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is due for reauthorization and proposals have been introduced in the House and Senate. (The last reauthorization of ESEA was the No Child Left Behind under President George W. Bush.) On July 19, the House passed the Student Success Act (H.R. 5). The bill would reduce the federal role in public education and c...
Student loan rates. The Senate rejected two proposals to extend low interest rates on student loans after they expire on July 1. Without legislation, interest rates will double from 3.4% to 6.8% with the expiration of the one-year fix put in place last summer. Movement to proceed with a Senate Democratic bill (S. 953) to extend the current 3.4% fixed interest rate for two additional years was reje...
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...
DC Shuttle ...
Senate Releases Tax Bill. The Republican-led U.S. Senate released a tax bill that would impose a new 1.4% excise tax on the earnings of endowments at private universities. The new tax, which is also in the House bill, would apply only to private, not public, universities that have at least 500 students and endowment assets of at least $250,000 per student. The Senate bill would kee... 
DC Shuttle ...
Executive Order Extends Presidential Commissions on Education. President Trump signed an executive order extending three presidential advisory commissions on education until Sept. 30, 2019. All three had been set to expire over the weekend. Trump's order extends the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, the President's Advisory Commission on Educ... 
DC Shuttle ...
DeVos Visits HBCU, Trump Questions HBCU Funding. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited Bethune-Cookman University to deliver its commencement address. She was met with controversy as hundreds of graduating seniors booed and turned their backs on her, the NY Times reports. The Trump administration has had a rocky start with HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities)... 
DC Shuttle ...
Senate Committee Holds King Confirmation Hearing. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a confirmation hearing for Acting Secretary of Education John King. The acting secretary testified in front of the committee for about two hours and answered questions on topics including the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), campus sexual... 
DC Shuttle ...
White House Budget Includes Education Proposals. President Obama sent his final budget request to Congress. The budget includes many education-focused proposals including expanding Pell Grants, new tax credits for companies that invest in community colleges, and hiring new enforcement officials at the Department of Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the budg... 
DC Shuttle ...
Hearings Begin on HEA Reauthorization. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held its first hearing of the 114th Congress on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA). The hearing marks the beginning of efforts by new Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to reauthorize HEA. Tuesday's hearing focused on a report released last Friday by the Task Force on Fed... 
Student loan rates. The Senate rejected two proposals to extend low interest rates on student loans after they expire on July 1. Without legislation, interest rates will double from 3.4% to 6.8% with the expiration of the one-year fix put in place last summer. Movement to proceed with a Senate Democratic bill (S. 953) to extend the current 3.4% fixed interest rate for two additional years was reje...