SA Weekly: September 23
Civic Engagement Policy and Advocacy Supporting the Profession Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice
September 23, 2019
Welcome to SA Weekly, your destination for higher ed news, NASPA research and policy, constituent blogs, and more.
Alexander Makes Play for Narrow Higher Ed Deal “Tennessee Republican ties funding for minority-serving institutions to larger package of higher ed bills. But few observers expect deal to come together.”
Ruling Out Grad Unions “Trump-era labor board wants to make it that much harder for graduate students on private college campuses to form unions. Some say it's overreach.”
Massive Surge in Student Voting “A new Tufts study documents that voter turnout among college students doubled in the last midterm election, which may likely influence the coming presidential election.”
Measuring the Effects of Loan Forgiveness “Borrowers whose private student loans were discharged in court earned more, paid off other debt and were more likely to move for work, new research shows.”
Trauma-Informed Dispute “Association of college administrators that deal with campus sexual assaults prompts controversy with a new recommendation not to overrely on the behavior of traumatized victims to determine the veracity of their claims.”
Picking Your Own Name “More and more universities are adopting chosen name and preferred pronoun policies, an act that's inclusive of transgender and nonbinary students.”
Free College for All in New Mexico “Proponents say universal free tuition plans like New Mexico's are the best way to boost college enrollment, but critics say it would help the least needy and do little to improve program quality.”
The University of the Bahamas, After Dorian “The University of the Bahamas saw a surge in enrollment this year after the introduction of a free tuition program. Then came Hurricane Dorian.”
A Clean Loan Ledger for New Graduates “Billionaire donor's pledge to Morehouse College graduating Class of 2019 will wipe out $34 million in student loan debt owed by students and parents.”
Policy Update
Sent by American Council on Education (ACE) and Supported by forty-three higher education groups, including NASPA, September 16
Examining State Religious Freedom Policies and Impacts in 2019 by Diana Ali, Associate Director of Policy Research and Advocacy
What Our Favorite Prison Drama Taught Us About Restorative Justice by Jill Dunlap, Director for Research and Practice
Policy Research & Advocacy
H.R. 4245: Heightening Opportunities for Pathways Education (HOPE) for FAFSA Act
Introduced to the House and referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, September 9, 2019
Under primary sponsorship by Lucy McBath (D-GA) the HOPE for FAFSA Act has been supported in a press release by Young Invincibles, for its intent on streamlining and shortening the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for low-income students. As outlined in NASPA’s March 2019 Priorities for Higher Education Act (HEA) Reauthorization, NASPA asserts the importance of simplifying the FAFSA to make applying for aid easier for those most in need.
H.R. 4378: Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Health Extenders Act of 2019
Passed by the House Appropriations Committee, September 19, 2019
The House passed a continuing resolution (CR) to prevent a government shutdown that could occur when FY2020 begins on October 1, 2019. The CR has not passed the Senate. For more on the building blocks of the appropriations process check out NASPA September 2018 blogpost—Follow the Money: Ins and Outs of Federal Appropriations.
H.R. 2486: Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act
Passed the House, placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time, September 19, 2019
The FUTURE Act passed the House and would extend funding for Science, Technology, Education, and Math (STEM) programming for colleges and universities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). This is important given the threat to this funding stream due to the lack of movement on Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization.
Regulatory Updates
- Final Rule by the Department of Education, September 23, 2019
- Department of Education (ED), set to go into effect July 1, 2020
ED released its unofficial final rule on borrower defense to repayment, at the end of August, and the official final rule was uploaded to the Federal Register on September 23. While these rules are not set to go into effect until July 1, 2020, the new regulations relating to financial responsibility are now available for implementation since the publication of the final rule to the Federal Register. The new rules differ from Obama-era rules in a number of ways including how individual borrower defense to repayment claims are processed, allowing the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements and class-action waivers, and a categorization of mandatory and discretionary triggering events.
- Proposed Rule by the National Labor Relations Board, September 23, 2019
- Comment period that ends on November 22, 2019
Summary from the Federal Register: “In order to more effectively administer the National Labor Relations Act (Act or NLRA) and to further the purposes of the Act, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) proposes a regulation establishing that students who perform any services for compensation, including, but not limited to, teaching or research, at a private college or university in connection with their studies are not “employees” within the meaning of Section 2(3) of the Act. The Board believes that this proposed standard is consistent with the purposes and policies of the Act, which contemplates jurisdiction over economic relationships, not those that are primarily educational in nature. This rulemaking is intended to bring stability to an area of federal labor law in which the Board, through adjudication, has reversed its approach three times since 2000.” This proposed rule would reverse a 2016 ruling that allow graduate students who work as research and teaching assistants at private colleges and universities to unionize.
Want to submit comments of your own? Check out NASPA’s Q&A on submitting public comments
Around NASPA
Scholar’s Corner: A Letter From a #LatinaMamiScholar: Dear Younger Me by DeAna Swan, Latinx/a/o Knowledge Community
Behind the Scenes: Science Identity Experiences by Kate Diamond and Michael Stebleton, Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education