Newswire Archives
The PSLF Coalition and Equal Justice Works are hosting a webinar on the most recent updates to the PSLF program and how to apply for PSLF during the temporary waiver offered by the Department of Education. The webinar will take place on Wednesday, August 3 at noon Eastern.
Registration details may be accessed here.
The Student Borrower Protection Center is holding a webinar panel series on student loans. Webinars will be held on August 2 (Addressing the Flaws of the Current Student Loan Collection System), August 9 (Solutions to Address Student Loan Default and Collections), and August 16 (The Role of States in Reforming Our Broken Student Loan Collection System).
Details may be accessed here.
The House passed two mental health bills pertaining to higher education last month. HR 5407, Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Through Campus Planning Act, would direct the Department of Education to encourage institutions of higher education to develop and implement evidence-based comprehensive campus mental health and suicide prevention plans. HR 6493, Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act of 2022, would reauthorizes and revises the illicit drug and alcohol abuse prevention program, including by expanding the program to include efforts to prevent substance misuse on campuses. Both bills have been introduced in the Senate, awaiting further action.
Inside Higher Ed’s coverage may be accessed here. The bills may be accessed here and here.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education released their notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on student loans and affordability issues, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The Department is accepting public comments through August 12.
The NPRM may be accessed here. A July 6 Department of Education press release is available here.
The Geriatrics Academic Career Award (GACA) Program supports the career development of individual junior faculty in geriatrics at accredited schools of allopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, dentistry, pharmacy, or allied health as academic geriatrics specialists and to provide clinical training in geriatrics, including the training of interprofessional teams of health care professionals. There are 26 expected awards, and the estimated post date for the opportunity is August 11, 2022, and the estimated application due date is November 10, 2022.
More details may be accessed here.
The American Council on Education, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, will hold a webinar to help campus leaders learn about the temporary changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and how they can help borrowers who are seeking to have their student loan debt forgiven. These changes expand the benefit to more nonprofit employees and will aid numerous college and university employees, students, alumni, and their families. Join this webinar to learn from a Department of Education expert about how to take advantage of these changes and submit waivers by the October 31 deadline. The event will be held on Tuesday, July 12 at 2:00pm Eastern.
Registration is available here.
Today, the House Appropriations Committee released its report for the FY 23 Labor-HHS-Education bill. The Committee will mark up the bill tomorrow at 9am.
The markup may be viewed here. The Committee’s press release and bill report may be accessed here. Chair Rosa DeLauro’s (D-CT) statement may be accessed here.
Last week, OMB provided updates on the rulemaking process for the Certification Procedures portion of the higher education Notice for Proposed Rulemaking. The Department of Education is scheduled to issue proposed regulations in April 2023, open to public comment for at least 30 days. If final regulations are released by November 1, 2023, they will become effective July 1, 2024. ASAHP has concerns about rulemaking on state authorization reciprocity as well as professional licensure.
Clinical experience is a core requirement of many allied health programs for graduation, and many of our members place students in out of state clinical rotations. State authorization reciprocity agreements have been vital in allowing our member institutions to provide these necessary clinical experiences. We have joined NC-SARA in recommending replacement language to the Department of Education.
More details may be accessed here.
On Saturday, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law. The bill is the first gun control legislation to become law in nearly three decades. The bill includes spending for school security and mental health treatment. ASAHP joined the Federation of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP) in a letter of support sent to congressional leaders last week.
The support letter may be accessed here.
On Thursday, the Department of Education released its proposed Title IX regulations. The proposed regulations will be open for public comment for 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register. The Department will engage in a separate rulemaking to address Title IX's application to athletics.
The Department’s press release and more details are available here.
On Thursday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHSED) advanced its FY 23 funding bill. The House allocations for the 12 subcommittees provide more than $1.6 trillion in funding, a nine percent increase over the FY22 enacted level. The LHHSED bill provides $242.1 billion, an increase of $28.5 billion (13 percent) above FY 22 enacted. Like FY 22, the House funding levels will be the highwater mark in negotiations with the Senate on reaching a topline spending agreement. The LHHSED bill provides a total of $86.7 billion in discretionary appropriations for ED, an increase of $10.3 billion above the FY 2022 enacted level; a total of $15 billion in discretionary appropriations for DOL, an increase of $1.9 billion above the FY 22 enacted level and $125 million above the President’s budget request; and a total of $124.2 billion for HHS, an increase of $15.6 billion above the FY 22 enacted level and $298 million below the President’s budget request. The bill provides a total of $9.6 billion for HRSA, an increase of $683 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $792 million above the President’s budget request. The bill includes an increase of $132 million to grow and prepare the behavioral health workforce and $25 million to develop and disseminate best practices for Preventing Burnout in the Health Workforce. The LHHSED full committee markup is scheduled for June 30 at 10am Eastern and we expect the explanatory statement report to be released on June 29.
Chair Rosa DeLauro’s (D-CT) opening remarks at the Subcommittee markup are here. Ranking Member Kay Granger’s (R-TX) opening remarks are here. A summary of the bill is here. The text of the draft bill is here. The included earmarks (Community Project Funding) in the bill are here.
The House Education and Labor Committee held a nearly four hour hearing on the “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Education with Secretary Miguel Cardona. The hearing was contentious with Chair Scott having to remind the committee that “all Members are advised to leave out questions of motive or character of other Members.”
Today, the U.S. Department of Education published new guidance to assist institutions in providing mental health supports for students, faculty, and staff. It includes specific examples of how colleges can use Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) to invest in evidence-based mental health supports.
ACE, in partnership with the Department of Education, will be hosting a webinar exploring how colleges and universities can use federal COVID-19 relief funds to improve campus mental health resources at their institutions. Deputy Assistant Secretary Michelle Asha Cooper and a panel of campus leaders who have successfully used relief funds to expand the mental health resources available to their students will discuss their own experiences and answer questions from the public. The webinar will be held on May 25 from 2:00-3:00pm Eastern.
On May 23 at 12:30pm Eastern, the Department of Education will hold a summit on strategies to support students with disabilities and students with mental health needs.
Registration and more details for May 25 may be accessed here. Registration and more details for May 23 may be accessed here.
U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Bill Cassidy, M.D., members of the U.S. Senate HELP Committee, on Tuesday introduced legislation to reauthorize federal mental health and substance use disorder programs that were signed into law in 2016. The legislation would reauthorize through 2027 at $102.6 million annually, HRSA’s Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training Grants to increase the supply of behavioral health professionals with a special focus on helping children, adolescents and youth at risk for behavioral health condition. The legislation would authorize $25 million to support states’ ability to enforce existing laws around mental health and substance use disorder parity.
More details may be accessed here.
