The Biden administration continues its efforts to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible through negotiated rulemaking under the Higher Education Act by releasing draft regulatory text for specific categories of borrowers and outlining next steps to consider relief options for borrowers experiencing hardship. Forgiveness delivered to borrowers through negotiated rulemaking will build on the historic actions the Administration already has taken to provide student debt relief to millions of Americans. Thus far, $127 billion in debt relief for nearly 3.6 million borrowers has been approved in addition to launching the SAVE plan, a student loan repayment mechanism. Draft regulatory text was released that provides debt relief for four groups of borrowers, including those who:
Currently have outstanding federal student loan balances that exceed what they originally borrowed.
Have loans that first entered repayment 25 or more years ago.
Took out loans to attend career-training programs that created unreasonable debt loads or provided insufficient earnings for graduates, as well as borrowers who attended institutions with unacceptably high student loan default rates.
The Secretary determines are eligible for forgiveness under repayment plans like income-driven repayment or targeted relief programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness or closed school loan discharges except they have not applied for such relief.
A U.S. Department of Education issue paper outlines additional questions and information to guide discussion about a fifth group of borrowers, i.e., those who are experiencing financial hardship that the current student loan system does not address adequately. The paper outlines concepts raised during the first negotiating session on October 10-11, 2023 that require further development and discussion to identify potential regulatory proposals or future policymaking efforts. Questions in the paper include which types of borrowers may be experiencing hardship, whether standards used to make improvements to the bankruptcy process could be applied to student debt relief, and what data would be needed to determine whether a borrower is facing hardship. The second session was held on November 6-7. Session Three is scheduled for December 11-12.
Modifying The Carnegie Classification Of Higher Education Institutions
The American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching announced a series of changes on November 1, 2023 to modernize the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the framework used for five decades to classify American colleges and universities. The iteration of the Carnegie Classifications that will be released in early 2025 will revise the Basic Classification, which generally places all U.S. colleges and universities into groups based on the highest degree awarded. The updated classifications will create new, multi-dimensional groupings that go beyond the single label (such as Master’s Colleges and Universities: Medium Programs) that is now assigned to every U.S. college and university. The classification categories will be expanded to describe more accurately the richness and multifaceted nature of today’s colleges and universities and additionally capture aspects of institutions’ missions. The precise labels still are under development.
The 2025 Carnegie Classifications also will make significant changes to how research is recognized, including to the methodology that determines whether an institution is classified as R1. A new threshold establishes a clear and transparent target for institutions whose mission supports prioritizing research. Additionally, the Carnegie Classifications will identify and recognize research contributions made across the vast network of colleges and universities in the U.S., including at institutions not offering doctoral degrees. A new designation known as “Research Colleges and Universities” will capture research underway at institutions that only serve undergraduate students. Any institution that spends at least $2.5 million on research will be included in this category, provided they are not in the R1 or R2 classifications.