Like the DOD Office of Basic Research, DARPA has released a FAQs document in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The document is available here.
Category: Administration
DOD Basic Research Office Releases COVID-19 FAQs Document
Like the NSF, the DOD Office of Basic Research has released its own FAQs document in response to the OMB M-20-17 Memo that was issued to agencies on March 19.
Broader Higher Education Community Looks to Engage with Federal Government to Address Community-Wide Challenges
Yesterday, the broader higher education community sent to Congress a series of recommendations and requests for assistance aimed at stabilizing the entire enterprise as it tries to cope with COVID-19. The requests fall into a number of distinct categories:
- One set of requests addresses the immediate financial challenges facing both students and institutions.
- Another set of requests focuses on the unique circumstances that research universities face as they deal with trying to mitigate the impact on research.
- The third set focuses on tax-related provisions that could assist students, families, and institutions.
Major Changes to Student Loans, K-12 Testing, Due to COVID-19
Today President Trump announced the below changes affecting the Department of Education as a result of COVID-19:
- The Department of Education will not enforce standardized testing for K-12 institutions this school year.
- Federal student loan borrowers may suspend payments for up to 60 days, retroactive from March 13th, 2020. The borrower must contact their loan servicer to make the change.
- All federal student loan interest rates will be automatically set to 0% for the next 60 days.
The changes are designed to allow school districts to cope with long-term closures, as well as allow loan borrowers to offset financial hardships as a result of the COVID-19 national emergency.
Senate Republicans Release “Phase 3” Stimulus Bill
Earlier this evening, Senate Republicans unveiled their initial version of the “Phase 3” stimulus bill in an attempt to prevent further damage to the economy. The center piece of the package is direct payments of up to $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for married couples, with the payments being cut off at individuals making $99,000 per year.
The proposal includes additional assistance to other sectors of the economy, such as $50 billion for the air line industry and $8 billion for the air cargo industry.
While the measure was introduced by the Senate Republican leadership, there is still disagreement within the Senate ranks. In addition, neither the House or Senate Democrats were involved in the drafting of the proposal, meaning changes are likely along the way.