HOUSE and SENATE

The Senate passed, by unanimous consent, an amended version of the FUTURE Act that would permanently extend mandatory funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and require the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to automatically share tax information with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for the purpose of establishing aid eligibility, recertifying income-driven repayment, and verification related to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

ADMINISTRATION

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will testify next Thursday before the House Education and Labor Committee regarding ED’s handling of Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDR) claims.

ED, in a court filing, disclosed that it improperly attempted to collect loans from an additional roughly 29,000 former Corinthian Colleges students in violation of a court order.

Secretary DeVos proposed separating ED’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) into its own agency solely dedicated to running the U.S.’ Federal student loan portfolio.

At the 2019 Federal Student Aid Training Conference, ED officials presented about an upcoming “experimental sites” initiative that would allow institutions of higher education to limit student borrowing, pay off student loans and develop an institution “designed and managed financing program for students.”

EVENTS

Penn Hill Group plans to provide clients with a summary of the following event next week:

• December 12: House Education and Labor Committee hearing on “Examining the Education Department’s Implementation of Borrower Defense” at 9:00am

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES 

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