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

ADMINISTRATION

President Joe Biden offered remarks and Vice President Kamala Harris issued a statement on the Supreme Court of the United States’ (SCOTUS) decision on Affirmative Action. The Biden Administration also announced “Actions to Promote Educational Opportunity and Diversity in Colleges and Universities.”

President Joe Biden released a statement on SCOTUS’ decision on the Biden Administration’s student loan forgiveness effort.

The Biden Administration announced State, territory and District of Columbia Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program allocations.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued a statement on SCOTUS’ ruling on affirmative action programs.

The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will launch a new process through which “institutions of higher education can apply to offer postsecondary programs to confined or incarcerated individuals.”

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $178 million in Federal grants to “Improve Health, Safety, and Lower Energy Costs at K-12 Public Schools.”

SUPREME COURT

SCOTUS issued rulings on the constitutionality of admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. In both cases, the Court ruled that the use of race in both policies of the institutions were unconstitutional. In the Harvard case, the final vote tally was 6-2 (Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself from the Court’s consideration of this case). In the UNC-Chapel Hill case, the final tally was 6-3. You can read the majority, concurring and dissenting opinions from the Justices here.

In a unanimous decision, SCOTUS ruled in the U.S. Department of Education v. Brown case that plaintiffs (two individual student loan borrowers) lacked standing to bring the case before the Court, effectively deciding that SCOTUS could not consider the case on its merits. In a 6-3 decision, SCOTUS decided in Biden v. Nebraska that the plaintiffs had standing and the Biden Administration lacks authority to implement its student loan initiative to forgive between $10,000-$20,000 in Federal loans for qualifying borrowers. The latter case effectively blocks the Administration from implementing its forgiveness plan.

SCOTUS denied a petition for it to hear oral arguments and issue a ruling on the Charter Day School, Inc. v. Peltier case.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Program Grant Summary
Application Deadline: July 7, 2023

Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Grant Program: Early-Phase Grant Summary

Application Deadline: August 1, 2023

Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Grant Program: Mid-Phase Grant Summary

Application Deadline: July 12, 2023

Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Grant Program: Expansion Grants Summary

Application Deadline: July 12, 2023

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