Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 5 - Issue 43

Last night, Congress passed a short-term spending bill that will fund the government through February 18, thus averting a government shutdown. Congress must now negotiate its spending bills for Fiscal Year 2022 which began on October 1.

Recently, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) released a toolkit for counselors to help prepare students, parents, and borrowers for the resumption of student loan payments. With payments set to resume after January 31, 2022, the toolkit provides fact sheets, sample emails, and sample social media content to help communicate how borrowers can prepare. FSA plans to update the site monthly with additional resources about repayment.

FSA’s chief operating officer, Richard Cordray, voices concern about declines in FAFSA completion.

The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) released its annual report on undergraduate student loan debt for the Class of 2020. Among the report’s findings is that in 19 states the average debt held by graduating students was more than $30,000 and was over $35,000 in six states.

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 117th Congress (2021-2022).