Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 7 - Issue 38

On Monday, the Education Department (ED) released proposed regulatory text for its next negotiated rulemaking session regarding student loan forgiveness slated to take place on November 6-7. Recall that after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Biden-Harris Administration’s debt forgiveness plan, President Biden announced that his administration would pursue debt forgiveness through the negotiated rulemaking process using the Higher Education Act. Included in the regulatory text are proposals to cancel the debt of borrowers whose balances exceed the original principal balance, borrowers who first entered repayment 25 or more years ago, and borrowers who are not enrolled in but meet the requirements for forgiveness under a repayment plan.

On Tuesday, ED announced that it would not be providing a $7.2 million payment to Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) due to a report of billing errors. Specifically, it was alleged that 2.5 million borrowers received their billing statements late resulting in 800,000 borrowers missing their payment. MOHELA was instructed to put all impacted accounts into forbearance with zero percent interest until the issue is resolved.

An annual survey by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators indicated that 26 percent of administrators noticed an increase in professional judgment requests due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic in addition to economic conditions.

A student loan impact survey administered by Santander found that 69 percent of respondents who earn between $47,000 and $142,000 per year believe that repaying their student loans will hinder their ability to achieve financial success.

The following bill(s) have been recently introduced for consideration by the 118^th Congress (2023-2024):

H.R. 6077 – Protecting Our Students by Terminating Graduate Rates that Add to Debt (POST GRAD) Act [Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-28)] would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make graduate and professional students eligible to receive Federal Direct Subsidized Loans.

H.R. 6134 – [Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8)] would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require certain higher education institutions to provide notice of tuition levels for students.