ADMINISTRATION       

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it has processed more than 10 million 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms to date. ED said that it will continue its efforts to boost FAFSA completion rates through the Student Support Strategy, which has funded 65+ organizations to carry out FAFSA-related activities since May 6.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced a “full-scale review” of the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), a search effort for a new Chief Operating Officer of FSA and the hiring of an independent consulting firm to make recommendations to improve FSA. Cardona also announced that Denise Carter, presently an acting Assistant Secretary delegated to perform the functions and duties of the Chief Financial Officer, will be the interim head of FSA.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB) filed a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), alleging it unlawfully pursued payments from borrowers of discharged private student loans and provided false information about consumers to credit reporting agencies.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote a letter to Secretary Cardona urging ED to implement GAO’s open priority recommendations. These recommendations address the improvement of accessibility and affordability of higher education and program reporting and other requirements that impact the well-being and education of K-12 children.

GAO published a report titled, “Higher Education: Education Could Improve Information on Accommodations for Students with Disabilities.”

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released its annual condition of education report, which summarizes the latest data on education in the United States.

EVENTS

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

June 4: House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee Hearing on “The Consequences of Biden’s Border Chaos for K-12 Schools.”

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

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