Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 10 - Issue 12

This Week In Washington

This week, the Education Department (ED) launched the first week of negotiations for the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) Committee. In the draft regulations, ED is committed to improving credit mobility for students who transfer institutions, linking accreditors to outcomes, fostering competition among accreditors, and increasing transparency across the accreditation process. The primary goal of the AIM Committee is to open the door to new accreditors by reducing barriers to entry. Due to this, negotiators and ED discussed finding balance between institutions, accreditors, and ED as a challenge while balancing the proposed regulations.

The AIM Committee continues to move through the regulations this week and intends to meet again in May. Materials for this week, including the draft regulations and summary of discussion, are available to the public.

On Thursday, Federal Student Aid announced that the new real-time fraud detection capability for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will start on April 26. The new process is designed to help identify and prevent identity fraud in the application process. Applications will be assessed in real-time and placed into risk categories. While most applicants will proceed without further steps, some may be required to complete identity verification through documentation and a live camera check. ED expects that many flagged applications will be fraudulent, though institutions may need to support legitimate students with additional verification steps.

News You Can Use

Hundreds of law professors, deans, students, lawyers, and bar associations are urging the American Bar Association to keep longstanding diversity and inclusion requirements for law schools. The arm of the ABA that oversees U.S. law schools received 47 written comments from individuals and groups asking to retain or strengthen law school diversity standards.

The Institute for College Access & Success published the article The Latest Student Loan News: What Borrowers Need to Know, which outlined recent changes affecting borrowers in repayment. Highlights include information and FAQs for SAVE borrowers and guidance on PSLF applications.

Recent Legislation

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 119th Congress (2025-26).