Here’s a quick look at the news from last week (March 17 – 21). 

ADMINISTRATION
The U.S. Department of Education will hold the second of several Negotiated Rulemaking sessions on Program Integrity issues on March 26 – 28. The panel is considering a number of proposed higher education regulations including Title IV aid disbursement, state authorization, underwriting standards for PLUS loans, clock hour versus credit hour and rules about students receiving financial aid for repeated coursework. The Department is expected to post draft regulatory language for a number of the proposed regulations before the meetings this week. The third and what is currently scheduled as the last session will be April 23-25, but the Department has expressed the desire to hold a fourth session on adverse credit history in late May.

The U.S. Department of Education released year three progress reports for states with Race to the Top grants.

The U.S. Department of Education released new data from the 2011-12 Civil Rights Data Collection. It is the first data collection of its type that covers all public schools and districts in the United States.

SENATE and HOUSE
The House and Senate were in recess last week.

The House Appropriations Committee will hold two education-related hearings this week: on Tuesday, March 25 the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education subcommittee will hear from public and outside witnesses on the Labor, HHS and Education appropriations. On Thursday, March 27 the Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee will discuss the budget for the National Science Foundation with NSF Acting Director Dr. Cora Marrett testifying.

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology will hold two hearings this week: on Wednesday, March 26 the full committee will review science agency funding in the President’s FY 2015 budget request, and on Thursday, March 27 the Subcommittee on Space will look at the FY 2015 budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce will hold two hearings this week: on Tuesday, March 25 the early childhood subcommittee will hold a hearing on strengthening the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. On Wednesday, March 26 the full committee will review the President’s FY 2015 budget request for the Department of Labor, and Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez testifying.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold two hearings this week: on Tuesday, March 25 the full committee will discuss teacher preparation issues. On Thursday, March 27, the full committee will look at strengthening the federal student loan program.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
Penn Hill Group provides a list of grant opportunities and summaries for select grants. Please visit our website for more information.