New England Board of Higher Education » federal policy

DC Shuttle: Obama Proposes $5 Billion for Community College Infrastructure

John O. Harney — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:45:29 +0000

In his speech before a joint session of Congress Thursday evening, President Obama put forward several proposals aimed at bolstering the economy and creating jobs. Among these proposals was $30 billion to repair and revamp school facilities, including $5 billion specifically for community college infrastructure.

Education advocates in the administration and Congress have attempted to advance funding for school improvement and repair several times over the past few years. The American Graduation Initiative, an administration program which was ultimately dropped from the 2010 healthcare/student aid reform legislative package, included $12 billion for community college improvements. Billions for higher education infrastructure also failed to make it into the final version of the 2009 economic stimulus law.

Details on how the proposed $30 billion in new infrastructure funding would be distributed have yet to be released. The president's proposal also includes another $30 billion to prevent and reverse 280,000 teacher layoffs, which was among the goals of 2010's economic stimulus package. Reactions from Democrats and education advocates were generally favorable, although several Republicans expressed reservations. Congressman John Kline (R-MN), chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said that "common sense ... tells us that another teacher union bailout will not ensure a quality education for our children."

On Thursday, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee voted 17-5 to approve legislation (H.R. 2433) opening up education benefits to unemployed veterans. Bill sponsor and Committee Chair Jeff Miller (R-FL) said that the bill would provide 100,000 currently unemployed veterans aged 35-64 with up to one year of training, in addition to a grant program for retraining for homeless veterans. The House is expected to take up the bill later this month. On the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) is advancing legislation (S. 951) targeting unemployed veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for employment initiatives.

The Department of Education released proposed requirements for the third round of Race to the Top grants on Wednesday. Finalists from the second round will compete for a portion of the $200 million education reform grant fund. States submitted reform plans focused on enhancing STEM education, recruiting and retaining effective teachers, and turning around failing schools.

From the New England Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, Sept. 12, 2011. NEBHE is a member of the Council and publishes this column each week.

Founded in 1925, the New England Council is a nonpartisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the New England region. The Council's mission is to identify and support federal public policies and articulate the voice of its membership regionally and nationally on important issues facing New England. For more information, please visit www.newenglandcouncil.com.

DC Shuttle: Debt Deal Boosts Pell Grants

John O. Harney — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:45:56 +0000

The debt-ceiling deal signed by President Obama last week will cut over $900 billion in federal funding over the next 10 years. Yet even in an extremely budget-conscious atmosphere, members of Congress singled out the Pell Grant program for an increase in funding to guarantee college access for low-income students. Under the terms of the new law, the Pell program would receive $10 billion in FY 2012 and $7 billion in FY 2013, for a total of $17 billion. While this funding still leaves a $1.3 billion projected shortfall if the maximum grant level is to be preserved at its current level of $5,550, the funding in the debt-ceiling law will go a long way toward ensuring college access for the 9.4 million students across the country who depend on Pell Grants for college education. Ending in-school subsidies for interest on graduate student loans will save $18.1 billion and ending financial incentives for on-time student loan payments will save $3.6 billion. The $21.6 billion total over 10 years will pay for the Pell Grant funding and reduce the deficit by the remaining $4.6 billion.

Many in the higher education community, and the broader business community, have urged Congress not to sacrifice programs that contribute to our economic well-being in the name of fiscal responsibility. An educated workforce is fundamental to our national economic competitiveness, and New England’s institutions of higher education play a critical role in developing a highly skilled and innovative workforce. Higher education is also an economic driver in its own right, providing jobs and generating over $100 billion in New England alone. Maintaining robust funding for Pell Grants ensures that colleges don’t have to decide between turning away students and cutting jobs.

While Pell Grants and other education programs may face more stringent cuts as the deficit-reduction committee works its way toward an additional $1.2 trillion in funding reduction, there is hope that this initial $17 billion for Pell Grants signals a continuing commitment to preserving college opportunities and supporting the nation’s institutions of higher education.

As a member of New England Council, we publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington. Because Congress recessed following the debt-ceiling vote last week, the Council will not publish its Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update this week. But because the debt-ceiling deal made special provisions for the Pell Grant program, the Council put together this update for our Aug. 8 DC Shuttle.

DC Shuttle: Duncan Defends Ed Budget Request … and Other Higher Ed News from Washington

John O. Harney — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:51:52 +0000

Editor's Note: A reminder that our DC Shuttle column has changed gates. Our news from Washington will now appear in Newslink, rather than the Journal section, of http://www.nebhe.org.

On Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended the department's budget request for FY 2012, including a 10.7% increase over 2011 funding levels, to the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education. Duncan highlighted the Pell Grant program's need for increased funding, as the economic downturn has led to a significant expansion in students applying for aid and he "desperately" wants to maintain the current maximum grant level of $5,550. The Education Department has requested $28.6 billion for Pell Grants in FY 2012.

Subcommittee Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) was wary of allocating additional funds to a program which has been criticized by many Republicans as inefficient and unsustainable. "We cannot continue to throw money at this problem," he said. Secretary Duncan pointed out that the funding bill passed earlier this year already made changes to the program to make it less expensive, and said that the administration has already made "tough choices" in order to rein in Pell Grant costs. Senator Shelby, who is also the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, further questioned the wisdom of continuing to fund the administration's Race to the Top competitive grant program, as it "essentially mandates which interventions should be used by states and local school districts to improve student achievement." The Obama Administration requested $900 million for the program in FY 2012.

Also on Wednesday, the Education Department announced that high schools will use revised, more accurate reporting methods for graduation rates beginning this summer. This marks a shift from the current practice of states each using their own methods to calculate graduation rates. Duncan said that the new standardized data collection "will help target support so more students graduate on-time." He added that the department expects to see a lower, but more accurate, average national graduation rate after the change is implemented.

From the New England Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, Aug 1, 2011. NEBHE is a member of the Council and will publish this column each week.

DC Shuttle: White House Meeting with CEOs Spawns New Ed Grants … and Other Higher Ed News from Washington

John O. Harney — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:33:36 +0000

Editor's Note: Our DC Shuttle column has changed gates, so to speak. With frequent arrivals of higher ed news from our partner The New England Council, DC Shuttle will now appear in Newslink, rather than the Journal section, of http://www.nebhe.org.

President Obama hosted an education roundtable on July 18 with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Domestic Policy Chair Melody Barnes and business leaders and CEOs. The meeting culminated in the announcement of several new initiatives, including $50 million from Bank of America to help underserved populations succeed in higher education in high-growth sectors, and $15 million from Microsoft to develop new classroom instruction technologies. America's Promise Alliance, which represents 400 corporations, advocacy and nonprofit groups, is also launching an initiative to raise $50 million to raise high school graduation rates.

Senate HELP Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) told critics and advocates of for-profit higher education that he is working to include military aid with total federal aid for the purposes of calculating the 90/10 rule. Under the rule, for-profit colleges are restricted from deriving more than 90% of their revenue from the federal government in order to be eligible for federal student aid programs. He also suggested that for-profit colleges are spending too much of their federal funds on advertising rather than instruction. "Should we be looking at how much federal money is being used for marketing?" he asked the panel of witnesses at the Thursday hearing. Several for-profit college presidents suggested that the focus should be on measuring student outcomes rather than how much money is spent on marketing. Senator Harkin praised the suggestion, and said that he "absolutely" intends to apply the standard to all colleges and not just the for-profit sector.

On Thursday, the Departments of Justice and Education announced the launch of a collaborative project to address "the disciplinary policies and practices that can push students out of school and into the justice system." The initiative will bring federal, state, and local education officials together to collaborate on collecting research and developing guidelines for school discipline policies. The announcement came on the heels of a report from the Council of State Governments which found that more than one half of all Texas middle and high school students had been suspended or expelled at least once between the 7th and 12th grades.

From the New England Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, July 25, 2011. NEBHE is a member of the Council and will publish this column each week.

DC Shuttle: Congress Considers Charter Schools, Workforce Investment, Manufacturing … and Other Higher Ed News from Washington

John O. Harney — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:01:00 +0000

On Wednesday, the House Education and Workforce Committee approved the second of five total planned bills on federal education reform for the 112th Congress. By a vote of 34 to 5, the committee advanced legislation (H.R. 2218) which would allow governors, state education agencies, and charter school boards to parcel out funding to expand or duplicate successful charter schools. States without caps on the number of charter schools or student enrolled in charter schools would receive funding priority, and the grant period would be expanded from three to five years. Committee Ranking Member George Miller (D-CA) said that he intends for the legislation to "help replicate what is working in schools... and to prepare every student to compete in our global economy." Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) voted against the bill, citing concerns about insufficient oversight and disclosure to ensure programs are equally accessible to all students. Education Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) says that he hopes to have all five bills passed by the House this fall, in time to implement changes before the stringent "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) requirements of the current No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law come into effect in 2014. Education Secretary Arne Duncan estimated that 82 percent of the nation's schools will qualify as "failing" the AYP this year, a drastic increase from 37 percent last year. Congressman Kline acknowledged that meeting his deadline would be a difficult feat, considering that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has yet to release a draft of their comprehensive education reform legislation. The Senate's legislative effort is expected to be markedly different from the House version.

Congressman Kline joined Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chair Duncan Hunter (R-CA) in questioning the Administration's authority to grant waivers for NCLB requirements to states which agree to implement certain education reforms. In a letter to Secretary Duncan, the congressmen asked that he provide additional information about his waiver plan and "an explanation of the department's legal authority for requiring states and schools to abide by certain changes in exchange for regulatory relief" by July 1. They add that the waiver initiative "could result in greater regulations and confusion for schools and less transparency for parents." Secretary Duncan announced his "Plan B" to offer waivers if Congress fails to pass education reform by the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year earlier this month, but has not gone into specifics. A spokesperson for Secretary Duncan said that the plan does comply with current law.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced legislation this week to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)—something she and HELP Committee Ranking Member Michael Enzi (R-WY) have been working toward for two years. The measure enjoys wide support within the HELP Committee; Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) and committee member Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) have also signed on. Sen. Murray hopes the bill will result in more focus on business sectors promoting job growth throughout the education system. "If kids in high school know that there are going to be health care jobs available in their community, they start thinking in different terms about being successful in high school because there's a job at the end of it," she said. The legislation would submit all federal job training programs to a common set of standards measuring retention rates, job placement, and new measures like how many enrollees receive an industry-recognized credential. Sen. Murray expressed confidence that the bill will win bipartisan support in a HELP Committee vote next week and ultimately in the Senate, although she acknowledged that a budget-conscious environment could chip away at WIA's current $3 billion funding level, making changes even more difficult to implement.

On Friday, President Obama announced a $500 million initiative to create new manufacturing jobs. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership will combine the work of research universities and private companies to innovate new manufacturing techniques. "Investing in manufacturing based on new technologies can provide high-quality, good-paying jobs for American workers," said Eric Lander, co-chairman of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The manufacturing effort is based on recommendations from the council, which include increased federal investment in shared university research facilities and expanded partnerships between industry and academia. Six universities have been invited to join the program's first wave, including MIT. While the program details have not been completely ironed out yet, some projects have already been identified. $100 million will be allotted to the Materials Genome Initiative, which aims to facilitate the discovery and implementation of new advanced materials. The White House notes that this will require an "unprecedented level of collaboration among all stakeholders, including government, industry, academia, professional societies, and national labs."

From the New England Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, June 27, 2011. NEBHE is a member of the Council and will publish this column each week.

DC Shuttle: Gainful Employment Rules, Reducing Loan Defaults and Other Higher Ed News from Washington

John O. Harney — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:56:07 +0000

On Thursday, the Education Department released the final "gainful employment" rules for vocational schools. In order to qualify for federal financial aid, for-profit and certificate programs will be required to prepare students for gainful employment by meeting one of three requirements: the average annual student loan payment is not more than 30% of a graduate's discretionary income; the average annual student loan payment is not more than 12% of a graduate's total income; or at least 35% of graduates are repaying their student loans. Schools will also be required to publish information on students' loan repayment rates, debt-to-income ratios, total program costs, and other data to help prospective students make informed choices. An Education Department statement notes that while the rules will apply to all occupational training programs, those at for-profit colleges "are most likely to leave their students with unaffordable debts and poor employment prospects."

The requirements were scaled back slightly after the first proposal last July was met with heavy criticism from for-profit advocates. In addition, instead of losing federal aid upon the first violation, programs would have to fail three times in four years before their funding would be cut. Tighter regulations would be phased in over four years to allow institutions to adapt. A provision to block the initial regulations was successful in the House, but Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) is a fierce advocate of the new rules and has promised to kill any measure which would block them. Sen. Harkin plans to hold the fifth in a series of hearings on for-profit colleges on June 7, with Education Secretary Arne Duncan as the primary witness.

The Education Department estimated that about 8% of all vocational programs will fail the new measures at some point, with 2% ultimately losing their federal support. For programs at for-profit institutions, those estimates rise to 18% failing at one time and 5% losing federal student aid. Secretary Duncan said that the requirements were very reasonable considering the high percentage of federal student aid making up for-profit colleges' income. "We're asking companies that get up to 90% of their profits and their revenue from taxpayer dollars to be at least 35% effective," he said. Opponents of the new rules say that it will disproportionately affect underserved and low-income students and restrict their access to higher education and skill-building programs. The rules are scheduled to go into effect in July 2012.

On Tuesday, the Education Department announced that it is inviting state and nonprofit guarantors to propose cost-effective methods to help reduce student loan default and delinquencies. Guarantee agencies would enter into "voluntary flexible agreements" with the Education Department, which serves as the official originator of federal student loans since a restructuring of the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program last year. That restructuring largely cut guarantors out of the federal student loan process in an effort to streamline the system and cut costs, but now they are being offered a new opportunity to participate. The Education Department hopes that the voluntary agreements with guarantors will "improve services to students, schools and lenders; use federal resources more cost-effectively and efficiently; and enhance the integrity and stability of the FFEL Program."

From the New England Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, June 6, 2011. NEBHE is a member of the Council and will publish this column each week.