January 11, 2023

Leading the news this week: The House and Department of Education have hit the ground running with several updates pertinent to community college leaders. We have extensive updates for you, so let's dive right into the latest news in higher education.

Notice of RFI Regarding Public Transparency for Low-Financial-Value Postsecondary Programs

In August 2022, President Biden announced that the Department of Education would publish a list of postsecondary programs, from all types of colleges and universities, that provide the least financial value to students. Programs on the list will be asked to submit improvement plans to the Department to improve their financial value.

This morning, the Department formalized these efforts by publishing a request for information (RFI) regarding the metrics that will be used to calculate the financial value of postsecondary programs. Stakeholders are being encouraged to provide information, research, and suggestions the Department should consider while creating metrics that may be used to identify low-financial-value programs and inform technical considerations. 

ACCT is closely monitoring these efforts and will keep you apprised of any updates. We encourage our members to work with their college Presidents and staff to submit written comments they believe to be pertinent. The RFI will be open for 30 days and must be submitted before February 10, 2023. For additional information regarding the RFI or on how to submit a comment, click here. The Department's fact sheet can be found here. 

Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) IDR Plan Update

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration's three-part plan to tackle student loan debt, the Administration announced last year that they would reform student loan repayment plans to help borrowers have more manageable payments. 

The Department proposed regulations that would create a more affordable income-driven repayment (IDR) plan by amending the terms of the current REPAYE plan. These changes aim to reduce monthly debt burdens and lifetime payments, especially for low and middle-income borrowers and borrowers with small balances.  Current IDR plans provide forgiveness to borrowers with remaining balances after 20 or 25 years of payments, however under these regulations borrowers with $12,000 or less in debt would receive loan forgiveness after making the equivalent of 10 years of payments. It also includes a sliding scale dictating that for every additional $1,000 borrowed above that would add 1 year of monthly payments until receiving forgiveness. This cuts the  path to forgiveness in half and will be particularly beneficial for the average community college borrower.  The Department estimates that these changes will lead to 85% of community college borrowers  becoming debt free within 10 years of entering into repayment. 

The proposed regulation  will be open for comments for 30 days. All comments and must be submitted before February 10, 2023. For additional information or on how to submit a comment, click here. The Department's fact sheet can be found here. 

118th Congress Officially Underway

Over the last week, the House of Representatives kicked into high gear after a week-long stalemate over the Speaker off the House election. This resulted in 15 rounds of votes until Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA-20) won the gavel in an early-morning Saturday voting series. The 118th Congress is officially underway!

Earlier this week, the House passed the rules package which lays out the procedures that will govern the Chamber for the next two years and gives us a look into the GOP's priorities. Although several concessions made by GOP leadership happened in closed-door meetings, one thing that's for certain is this Congress will focus heavily on implementing austerity measures. We expect tough battles around the appropriations process and debt limit, and limited overall funding in non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding. 

As for committee assignments, Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC-5) will chair of the Education and the Workforce Committee. We should have a better picture of full committee rosters on the House side as the month progresses. The Senate is currently out of session and will return January 23, we expect they will finalize committee rosters then.

As promised last week, you may find our fact sheet for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 here. 

Hotel Registration Deadline Approaching for 2023 Community College Legislative Summit

Our National Legislative Summit (NLS) is the premier community college advocacy event in Washington, DC, bringing together more than 1,000 community college leaders. The event shines a spotlight on the importance of our nation’s community colleges for Congress and the Administration.

Participants will hear from members of U.S. Congress, administration officials, leading political analysts, and other high-profile speakers about the current climate in D.C., recent elections, and legislative issues impacting community colleges. Our hotel registration deadline ends next week January 18, be sure to register soon!

• January 6 - deadline to apply for Nursing Expansion Grant Program 
• January 12 - deadline to apply for Special Education Research and Development (R&D) Center Grant

• January 27 - deadline to apply for the Expanding Community Colleges as SNAP E&T Providers RFA

• February 10 - deadline to submit comments for Proposed Regulations for Improving Income Driven Repayment Plans and RFI Regarding Public Transparency for Low-Financial-Value Postsecondary Programs
• February 15 - deadline for preliminary proposals for the NSF Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity program
• February 23 - deadline to apply Lead of a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Network
• October 2023 deadline to apple for Advanced Technological Education

Outreach Efforts

Is your institution meeting or hosting an event with federal elected officials?

We created a Congressional Contact Form that will help us track outreach efforts of community college leaders across our membership. By filling out the form, you are better informing ACCT's advocacy efforts and our advocacy team is able to continue those conversations with congressional staff in DC. 

We also put together an outreach toolkit and an advocacy guide to share best practices for meeting with elected officials and set your team up for success.

ACCT NOW is the go-to resource for issues affecting community colleges. Our new website features original reporting and research, as well as of-the-moment legislative updates. ACCT NOW also includes articles, reports, and research from outside sources that benefit the ACCT community. Read the Latest Articles on ACCT NOW:

Have a Question?

Contact us with any questions or concerns about public policy and ACCT's advocacy on behalf of two-year colleges and two-year college trustees. ACCT's Latest Action in Washington alerts are sent to interested ACCT members to keep you up to date on important legislative activities that impact community colleges. If you no longer wish to receive ACCT's Latest Action in Washington alerts, reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. For more information about ACCT's advocacy services, visit acct.org/advocacy

Spread the Word.

Please encourage your fellow trustees, presidents and colleagues to stay up to date about legislation that affects their community colleges by joining the Latest Action in Washington (LAW) E-Alert network. To join, simply e-mail publicpolicy@acct.org with 'LAW Alert' in the subject of the e-mail.

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