HOUSE and SENATE

The House and Senate were in recess this week and will resume next week.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said that the Committee was not going to produce a Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization bill this year.

ADMINISTRATION

The Federal Commission on School Safety held its first field visit at an elementary school in Maryland. The visit was attended by Secretary DeVos, who chairs the Commission.

A Federal judge of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ruled that ED violated the Privacy Act when it used Social Security Administration (SSA) data to calculate the amount of loan forgiveness provided to borrowers who attended Corinthian colleges and have borrower defense to repayment claims. The court will hold a hearing on June 4 to determine whether or not to compel ED to award full student loan forgiveness.

The U.S. State Department plans to limit Chinese graduate students to one-year visas if they are studying in certain STEM fields, like robotics, aviation and high-tech manufacturing. The change would go into effect on June 11, and would also require such students to get special clearance from multiple U.S. agencies if they work as researchers or managers for companies on a U.S. Commerce Department list of entities requiring higher scrutiny.

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge granted ED’s motion to dismiss lawsuits filed regarding a cancelled procurement for debt collection activities for Federal student loans.

EVENTS

Penn Hill plans to provide clients with summaries of the following events next week:

• June 5: Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee Hearing on ED’s 2019 Budget Request
• June 6: House Education and the Workforce Committee Hearing on “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES 

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