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ED Announces Final Rule on PLUS Loans

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The US Department of Education will publish new rules in the Federal Register tomorrow (Thursday, October 23) that are intended to strengthen the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Program.  The new regulations aim to expand access to higher education and better reflect programmatic changes that have occurred since the PLUS loan program began more than 20 years ago.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, “The updated borrowing standards for the PLUS loan program demonstrate our commitment to ensuring families have access to the financing they need to reach their goal.”

Here are some notable changes:

  • Establishes a threshold debt amount of $2,085, indexed to inflation, below which a potential borrower is considered to not have an adverse credit history.
  • Defining terms such as debt “charged off” and “in collection” to more accurately determine whether an applicant has an adverse credit history.
  • Reducing the time period of a borrower’s credit history that is considered to determine adverse credit history from the last five years to the last two years for charge offs and collections.
  • Requiring that PLUS Loan applicants who, despite having adverse credit are able to receive a PLUS Loan based on either demonstrating extenuating circumstances or by obtaining an eligible endorser, participate in loan counseling.

More information can be found here.

OSTP Accepting Internship Applications for Spring 2015

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The Office of Science and Technology Policy is currently accepting applications for its Spring 2015 Policy Internship Program.  The application deadline is 11:59pm October 17, 2014. 

The Office of Science and Technology Policy advises the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. The office serves as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major policies, plans and programs of the Federal Government.

More information and application instructions are available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/about/student/.

House Melts Down

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In what was supposed to be the last series of votes before the August Recess, the House has pulled a vote for legislation that would fund the border crisis. Both an emergency funding measure and a measure  to limit the Deferred Action on Child Arrivals (DACA) program, for which consideration was dependent on the funding measure passing, have been pulled at the last minute, causing mass confusing and potential political disaster just before the August recess.

House Republican leadership has pulled the $659 million supplemental funding bill to fund the efforts at the Mexican border. Earlier this month, President Obama requested nearly $3 billion to fund federal agency efforts in border states responding to a swell of young and underage immigrants from Central America.  Under the House rules for the supplemental, consideration of the supplemental was required before the House could consider and vote on a bill to limit the DACA program, which defers deportations of certain undocumented people who came to the United States as children.

Not long after noon, it became clear that House Republican Leadership did not have the votes. Led by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Tea Party-aligned Members revolted, saying that the supplemental appropriations bill did not go far enough to stem the flow of new migrants and threatened to vote against the GOP-authored measure.

Rather than see the measure defeated, it was pulled from consideration.

The DACA legislation had been unlikely to advance in the Senate and already had been ticketed for a presidential veto.

The decision to pull the $659 million measure is a major embarrassment for new House Republican leadership team. This was first major effort by Rep. Steve Scalise, who was recently elected Majority Whip.

The House will likely consider a revamped funding measure on Friday.

This Week in Committees

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Here are a few committee hearings we’ll be following this week.

THURSDAY, JULY 28

House Energy & Commerce Committee
Patient Care Legislation (HR 4067)
Subcommittee Markup
3 PM; 2123 Rayburn House Building

FRIDAY, JULY 29

House Science, Space & Technology
National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program
Subcommittee Hearing
10 AM; 2318 Rayburn House Building

SATURDAY, JULY 30

Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation
Aviation Manufacturing
Subcommittee Hearing
10:30 AM; 253 Russell Senate Building

SUNDAY, JULY 31

Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs
Financial Products and Education
Full Committee Hearing
10 AM; 538 Dirksen Senate Building

House Small Business Committee
Telemedicine and Small Medicine Practices
Subcommittee Hearing
10 AM; 2360 Rayburn House Building

Rep. Ryan Anti-Poverty Plan and Higher Education

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On Thursday, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced what he is calling  a new anti-poverty plan that proposes sweeping changes to the safety net through a state-led pilot program. Announced at the the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Ryan’s plan calls for streamlining the student-aid system, capping federal loans to parents and graduate students, a database for tracking recipients of federal aid, and further consolidation of federal job-training programs.

Big focus points that impact higher education include:

  • Simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
  • Modernize and reform the Pell program.
  •  Cap federal loans to graduate students and parents.
  • Consider reforms to the TRIO programs.
  • Expand funding for federal Work-Study programs.
  • Build stronger partnerships with post-secondary institutions.
  • Reform the accreditation process.

Some of the proposals in Thursday’s plan mirror ideas in the House Republican road map for reauthorization, including replacing the current patchwork of federal student-aid programs with one grant, one loan, and one work-study program. Both plans would make Pell Grants available year-round, creating “flex” funds that students could draw from until they graduated or exhausted their eligibility for aid. Also, both would remake federal college-access programs, with Mr. Ryan’s plan suggesting a single program.

But the Ryan plan offers more specifics than does the House Republican list, particularly when it comes to accreditation. His plan would make it easier for new accreditors to gain federal approval and would allow accreditors to recognize specific courses, not just colleges or programs.

The plan also calls for the creation of a “Commission on Evidence-Based Policy Making” that would explore whether, and how, to create a federal clearinghouse that could link anonymous participants across programs to provide a more complete picture of their effectiveness. The clearinghouse might also contain state, local, and educational data sets, like National Student Clearinghouse.

As this proposal and others continue to be introduced and move through Congress, the Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor and update this issue.