A quick look at the news from last week:

HOUSE and SENATE

The House and Senate were in recess until September 8.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce will hold a joint subcommittee hearing titled, “Improving Department of Education Policies and Programs through Independent Oversight,” on Wednesday, September 10.

ADMINISTRATION

The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will establish a negotiated rulemaking committee for proposed regulations governing the federal Direct Loan program, in order to allow more student borrowers to use the “Pay as You Earn” repayment plan. The committee is expected to convene in February, 2015. The Department is currently accepting written comments with suggestions on additional issues that should be considered by the committee. Comments are due on November 4, 2014. It will also host two public hearings to discuss the rulemaking agenda, on October 23, 2014 at the Department of Education office in Washington, DC, and on November 4, 2014 in Anaheim, CA.

The U.S. Department of Education granted approval for students participating in two competency-based education programs in the University of Wisconsin system to be eligible to receive Title IV student aid.

The U.S. Department of Education issued a pre-publication preview of changes it is making to the regulations governing the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. The proposed regulation makes a number of changes, including two new “models” that were permitted under the 2014 Omnibus Appropriations bill related to use of evidence-based practices and state-approved approaches, and an extension of the SIG grant period from three to five years.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

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