Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 8 - Issue 37

Late last week, the Education Department (ED) announced that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will be released earlier than December 1. Recall that back in August, ED announced it would be delaying release of the FAFSA until on or before December 1, 2024 to allow for testing and issue resolution of the form before making it available to all students. However, ED did not specify the exact date of the release of the FAFSA. Related, Congress passed the bipartisan FAFSA Deadline Act which would require that ED make the FAFSA available to the public every year by October 1. Currently, although the form is usually released on October 1, under law ED has until January 1 to make the form available. The bill is now headed to the President’s desk, and he is expected to sign it.

On Wednesday, ED published an interim final rule (IFR) which would allow borrowers to enroll in an income-contingent repayment plan or the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) plan. Both plans were sunset as of July 1, 2024 as part of the new Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, but due to ongoing litigation leading to an injunction blocking implementation of SAVE, ED is reversing course to provide borrowers with alternative repayment plans that provide lowered monthly payments. ED stated that it would exercise its authority to implement the changes early, making the plans available on December 16, 2024.

President-elect Donald Trump announced that he will be nominating Linda McMahon as Education Secretary. McMahon, who serves as Donald Trump’s transition co-chair, is known for her work in World Wrestling Entertainment and also served on the Connecticut state Board of Education and co-founded the conservative research group America First Policy Institute.

The Department of Education recently published the 2025-26 College Financing Plan, a tool designed to inform students and their families about their financial aid packages at participating institutions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released the results from its first Student Loan Borrower Survey, revealing that 61% of borrowers who received debt relief reported it enabled them to make beneficial changes in their lives sooner than they otherwise would have.

Findings from “Jobs & JDs: Employment and Salaries of New Law Graduates, Class of 2023,” published by the National Association for Law Placement, show that law school graduates of color had lower overall employment rates compared to their White peers.

The following bill(s) have been recently introduced for consideration by the 118th Congress (2023-24):  

H.R. 10159 – Affordable Loans for Students Act [Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY-17)] would lower the interest rate on all federal student loans to one percent.