Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 8 - Issue 34

On Thursday, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that it had approved $4.5 billion in federal student loan forgiveness to over 60,000 public service workers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The additional 60,000 brings the total number of borrowers provided with PSLF forgiveness to nearly one million.

On Tuesday, the Education Department (ED) announced that it would begin part two of its testing for the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), termed Beta 2. Recall that, in August, ED announced that the FAFSA form would be released in phases to allow for testing and issue resolution before making it available to all students. In the August announcement, ED also stated that the FAFSA would be available on or before December 1, 2024, with a test form available to a limited number of students and schools on October 1, 2024. According to ED, the Beta 2 phase will have specific institutions “ask their current students to submit the FAFSA form as returning students for the 2025–26 cycle – which will mark the first time returning students take part in beta testing.”

Student loan servicer MOHELA required to submit plan to fix errors related to its handling of federal student loans.

A partnership between Seattle University School of Law and University of Alaska Anchorage will soon offer Alaska its first brick and mortar law school.

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 118th Congress (2023-24).