CONGRESS

The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S Senate are both in recess. The House will return on September 13 and the Senate will return on September 6.

ADMINISTRATION

President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced new details on Operation Fresh Start, the Biden Administration’s initiative to return defaulted Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loans and ED-held Perkins Loans to good standing. ED also created a webpage for the initiative and issued guidance for colleges and universities.

ED announced the approval of a group loan discharge for approximately 208,000 borrowers who previously attended ITT Technical Institute. In conjunction with this announcement, ED also announced that it is undertaking a recoupment effort that will require DeVry University to pay approximately $24 million to cover the costs of approved Borrower Defense to Repayment claims.

ED’s proposed changes for Income-Driven Repayment are now under review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

ED issued a final decision on the appeal of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) to maintain its status as a Title IV accreditor.  Deputy Secretary Cindy Martin upheld a previous ED decision to terminate ACICS’s status as an accreditor recognized for Title IV purposes.

ED issued a notice requesting nominations to fill one vacancy on the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. Nominations are due on or before September 15, 2022.

The White House released a 2022 Back to School fact sheet on preventing COVID-19 spread.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

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