Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 9 - Issue 32

This Week In Washington

Over the weekend, the Education Department (ED) reached a deal with the American Federation of Teachers to allow for the resumption of student loan forgiveness. Forgiveness will be available to eligible borrowers enrolled in Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) repayment plans pending court approval of the deal. Borrowers in these plans have had forgiveness paused since February due to a court injunction which directed ED to stop implementation of the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, implicating the ICR and PAYE plans. ED also agreed to resume processing applications for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness buyback program which allows borrowers to pay back months that they were in an ineligible deferment or forbearance.

News You Can Use

This week, 30 higher education organizations released a statement opposing the Trump administration’s higher education compact. The organizations argue that this compact will limit institutions’ ability to innovate, limit freedom of expression, and hinder social and economic mobility for all students.

Recent analysis by the University of Arkansas identified only 91 colleges – less than six percent of four-year institutions – that enroll a high percentage of Pell Grant recipients and graduate at least 55% of them within six years. The findings call for targeted policy interventions and funding to expand and replicate these models of student success.

Recent Legislation

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