Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Washington Update: Reauthorization, Ratings and

Regulations

Christina WestAssistant Vice Chancellor for Federal Relations

Vanderbilt University

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Setting the Context• Election Year– Primaries start in earnest in May– November 4

• The House has 59 legislative days left before Nov. 4• Could the Senate flip?• Big Picture legislative priorities– FY 15 appropriations bills– Tax Reform– Medicare Physician Repayment– Long-term unemployment benefits

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Musical Chairs - House• House–Republicans• Term Limits for Kline• Next up: Tom Petri (WI)

–Democrats• George Miller retiring• Rob Andrews resigned• Bobby Scott (VA)

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Musical Chairs - Senate

• Democrats– Tom Harkin is retiring– Speculations: Mikulski (MD), Murray (WA),

Sanders (VT)• Republicans– Depends on the majority – – Alexander (TN) or Enzi (WY) ?

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

The Education Queue

Every major piece of education/workforce legislation is awaiting authorization

K-12 (ESEA) Ed Research (ESRA)Higher Ed (HEA) Special Ed (IDEA)Workforce (WIA) Child Care (CCDBG)

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Beyond Education . . .

• HELP –– Raising the minimum wage– Mental health– Nominations

• Education & the Workforce –– NLRB– Implementation of Obamacare

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Other House Higher Ed BillsHR 2172 Educator Preparation Refo

rm ActMike Honda (D-CA)

HR 340 Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act

Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)

HR 357 Tuition Fairness Act of 2013

Jeff Miller (R-FL)Mike Michaud (D-ME)

HR 1330 Student Loan Fairness Act Karen Bass (D-CA)HR 1595 Student Loan Relief Act Joe Courtney (D-CT)

HR 1716Earnings Contingent Education Loans Act

Tom Petri (R-WI)

HR 1911Smarter Solutions for Students Act

John Kline (R-MN)

HR 1928Proprietary Institution of Higher Education Accountability Act

Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)

HR 1937 Student Right to Know Before You Go Act

Duncan Hunter (R-CA)

HR 1946Responsible Student Loan Solutions Act

John Tierney (D-MA)

HR 1949Improving Postsecondary Data for Students Act

Luke Messer (R-IN)

HR 2020 Truth in Tuition Act Matt Cartwright (D-PA)

HR 2637 Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act

Virginia Foxx (R-NC)

HR 3136

Advancing Competency-Based Education Demonstration Project Act

Matt Salmon (R-AZ)

HR 3371State Loan Access and Student Protection Act

Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)

HR 3393Student and Family Tax Simplification Act

Diane Black (R-TN)

HR 3412Flexibility to Innovate for College Affordability Act

Trey Gowdy (R-SC)HR 3437 College Affordability Act Allyson Schwarz (D-PA)

HR 3496Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers Act

Steve Cohen (D-TN)

HR 3694 Net Price Calculator Improvement Act

Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Other Senate Higher Ed BillsS 113 Know Before You Owe Student

Loan ActDick Durbin (D-IL)

S 114 Fairness for Struggling Students Act

Dick Durbin (D-IL)

S 262 Veterans Education Equity Act Dick Durbin (D-IL)

S 406 Students First Act Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)

S 528 Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act

Kay Hagan (D-NC)

S 546 Smarter Borrowing Act Tom Harkin (D-IA)

S 744 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

S 835 AOTC Permanence and Consolidation Act

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

S 897 Bank on Student Loans Fairness Act

Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

S 909Responsible Student Loan Solutions Act Jack Reed (D-RI)

Richard Durbin (D-IL)

S 915 Student Right to Know Before You Go Act

Ron Wyden (D-OR)

S 953 Student Loan Affordability Act

Jack Reed (D-RI)Patty Murray (D-WA)Harry Reid (D-NV)Tom Harkin (D-IA)

S 1062 Educator Preparation Reform Act

Jack Reed (D-RI)

S 1156 Understanding the True Cost of College Act

Al Franken (D-MN)

S 1659 Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers Act

Dick Durbin (D-IL)

S 1704 Affordable College Textbook Act

Dick Durbin (D-IL)

S 1803 Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights

Dick Durbin (D-IL)

S 1873 Protect Student Borrowers Act Jack Reed (D-RI)

S 1874 Partnerships for Affordability Act

Jack Reed (D-RI)

S1969 College Affordability and Innovation Act of 2014

Chris Murphy (D-CT)Brian Schatz (D-HI)Patty Murray (D-WA)

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

HEA – New Actors, Influencers

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Senate HEA Hearings• Federal Student Aid• Teacher Preparation• Students with Disabilities• TRIO/GEAR-UP• Accreditation• Simplifying federal student aid• Innovations• The Triad – Accreditation, Universities and States• The Student Lens

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

House HEA Hearings• Non-traditional Students• Student Loan Rehabilitation Process• Teacher Preparation• Best Practices for Low-Income, First Generation Students• Pell Grants• Impact of ACA on schools and universities• Federal Student Aid• Innovative Partnerships• Innovation• Accreditation• Role of higher education in job growth/economic development• Student Loan Programs

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

HEA – Emerging Themes

• “Start from scratch”• One grant, one loan (one tax credit)• Simplify and streamline reporting

requirements• Buzz Words: transparency, accountability,

access, completion, affordability

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

At the Other End of Pennsylvania Avenue

• Putting colleges “on notice”• Pay As You Earn – Expanded Income Based

Repayment• White House Summit on Access• FLOTUS activities• College Ratings

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Federal Ratings or Rankings?Harkin: What if one university or college has a strong program amid a host of weak offerings, and gets a low rating as a result? … These, he said, were “things that I had not thought about before.“Alexander: Forcing all 6,000 colleges to use the same rating system would turn Washington into “a sort of national school board for our colleges and universities.“ACE: “Beyond the many questions and technical challenges that surround the development and implementation of a proposed rating system, rating colleges and universities is a significant expansion of the federal role in higher education and breaks new ground . . . .”NAICU: “Private, independent college leaders do not believe it is possible to create a single metric that can successfully compare the broad array of American higher education institutions without creating serious unintended consequences.”APLU: The group said the department should pursue an alternative to a federal ratings system, in which colleges are judged based on a set of measures (including graduation, loan repayment, and employment rates) that are adjusted by a “student readiness index” that controls for different types of student populations.

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Consumer Disclosure Efforts• White House– Financial Aid Shopping Sheet– College Scorecard

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau– Tools to help students learn how to pay for college, repay

debt, submit a complaint, banking on campus, college credit cards, managing money

– Know Before You Owe

• VA - Principles of Excellence

• DOD MOU

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Never-ending Neg Reg• Program Integrity Issues– State Authorization of distance education; authorization of

foreign institutions; campus debit cards; clock hour to credit hour; retaking coursework; PLUS Loans

• Violence Against Women Act/Campus SAVE– Last session last week

• Gainful Employment– Proposed regs issued March 14 – over 800 pages long

• Title II – teacher preparation– Concluded without consensus nearly 2 years ago

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Regulatory Reform – Dept. of Education

Senate-appointed Task Force on Government Regulation of Higher Education

1) Provide specific recommendations to consolidate, streamline and eliminate burdensome, costly and/or confusing regulations, legislation and reporting requirements;

2) Review and quantify the extent of all federal reporting and regulatory requirements with which institutions must comply, including estimates of the time and costs associated with specific regulations and requirements; and

3) Provide recommendations for reform to ensure future regulations are promulgated in a manner that appropriately considers existing law and accurately examines the costs and benefits to taxpayers, institutions and students.

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

FY 15 Budget Proposal• Mixture of Recycled….– $5,830 Pell Grant – Campus Based Aid– Perkins– Pay As You Earn– First in the World (innovation)– Race to the Top for higher ed (public institutions)

• And New….– Cap on Public Service Loan Forgiveness– Pell Bonus– Funding for ratings

Driving Uncertainty into Opportunity

Questions?

Christina WestAssistant Vice Chancellor for Federal Relations

Vanderbilt Universitychristina.d.west@vanderbilt.edu

202-216-4370