A quick look back at the news from last week. Compiled by Penn Hill Group.

HOUSE and SENATE

The House and Senate were not in session this past week. Next week, the House will have a committee work week with no legislative business scheduled on the House floor and the Senate will be in session.

ADMINISTRATION

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) officially ended Federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Universities (ACICS) as a Federally recognized accreditor of institutions of higher education (IHEs).

Federal Student Aid Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray recently announced through a blog post that ED would be more forthcoming with supplying other Federal agencies and States with information from Federal student loan servicers for these entities to conduct oversight over Federal student loan servicing activities.

As part of the effort to vaccinate as many Americans as possible against COVID-19, the Biden Administration has invited colleges to join its College Vaccine Challenge and become Vaccine Champion Colleges.

The Institute of Education Sciences released a report on “Mapping State Proficiency Standards onto the NAEP Scales: Results from the 2019 NAEP Reading and Mathematics Assessments.”

EVENTS

Penn Hill Group plans on providing clients a summary of the following event next week:

June 8: Senate Committee on the Budget Hearing on  “The President’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Proposal”

June 9: House Education and Labor Committee Hearing on “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Labor”

June 9: House Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing on “The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Member Day”

June 9: Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing on “President’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request for the United States Department of Health and Human Services”

June 10: House Education and Labor Subcommittee Hearing on “Ending Child Hunger: Priorities for Child Nutrition Reauthorization”

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

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