Penn Hill Group’s Washington Wrap Up: July 7, 2014

A quick look at the news from last week:

SENATE and HOUSE

The House and Senate were in recess last week.

The House is scheduled to take up H.R. 803, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, on Wednesday, July 9. The bill, which is a bipartisan compromise between House and Senate leaders on two pieces of legislation to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act, passed the Senate on June 26 by a vote of 95-3.

ADMINISTRATION

Inside Higher Ed is reporting that Under Secretary of Education Ted Mitchell said the U.S. Department of Education plans to release a draft version of the college ratings system this fall.

The U.S. Department of Education released a notice on interest rates on federal student loans for the next award period beginning July 1, 2014. In general, interest rates on the various student loan programs rise by 0.8 percent.

The U.S. Department of Education released its lists of the most and least expensive colleges in the United States as part of its College Affordability and Transparency Center.