What We’re Reading This Week, November 23-27

Posted on November 25, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.

Downward Spiral – University federal funding has failed to outpace inflation for the third consecutive year. Read more at NSF.

White House in the 40th Turkey Pardoning Ceremony (LOC)

Revisiting History – Woodrow Wilson is one of Princeton’s most celebrated figures, but recently his attitudes on race have called into question his role, and the role his legacy should take at Princeton. Read more at the New York Times.

Game Change – A century ago, Albert Einstein was in a bit of a slump (divorced, living alone, had other scientists disproving his theories). And on November 25, 1915, Albert Einstein revealed a theory that ruled the universe – the Theory of Relativity. Read more at the New York Times.

Future – Arne Duncan sits down for a discussion about his time at ED — it’s successes and failures. Read it at the Wall Street Journal.

Caliphate – The Washington Post has a story about the ISIS propaganda machine and what its like working for the organization’s PR arm.

NOAA Standoff – Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, has subpoenaed scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and demanded that they turn over internal e-mails related to their research for a groundbreaking climate change study which appeared in the June 4th online edition of Science. The scientists and NOAA Administrator Kathy Sullivan have refused. Read more at The Washington Post.

House and Senate Recess for Thanksgiving

Posted on November 19, 2015November 19, 2015

The Senate shelved consideration of the FY2016 Transportation-HUD spending bill after Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked progress on two transportation-related amendments and demanded consideration of his amendment to bar assistance to refugees from certain countries. Senate Leadership announced there will be no more votes this week in the Senate, opening the door to the Thanksgiving recess.

Earlier today, the House passed legislation putting more restrictions on refugees entering the country and adjourned pending on the adjournment of the Senate. The House has concluded all its legislative business prior to the Senate.

The House and Senate will be back in session November 30th.

House Pushes “Pause” on Syria Refugees

Posted on November 19, 2015

The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to slap stringent — and difficult to implement — new screening procedures on refugees from Syria seeking resettlement, seizing on the fear stemming from the Paris attacks.

The bill passed by a vote of 289 to 137 with nearly 50 Democrats in support even after Administration officials implored congressional Democrats to vote down the bill. The measure would require that the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence confirm that each applicant from Syria and Iraq poses no threat. The White House has declared the requirements “untenable.”

The White House has threatened to veto the measure should it pass the Senate and be sent to the President for signature.

ESEA/NCLB Conference Finished, Vote in House Expected

Posted on November 19, 2015

House and Senate conferees finished their work on an agreement to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law today. Members are hopeful that the conference package can clear both chambers by the end of the year. Both parties have been critical of the last reauthorization law (which renamed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to No Child Left Behind), which expired in 2007, for being overly prescriptive and limiting state and local agencies from prioritizing their needs. The Education Department has issued waivers from the law to many states, but also required states to adopt certain policies and standards pushed by the Obama administration. States losing their waivers, such as Washington State, has been a hot political issue.

Final legislative text is expected in the coming days, in order to give all members of Congress time to read the negotiated measure over the Thanksgiving break.

House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) who also led the conference committee, said he expects the House to vote on the package on Dec. 2 or Dec. 3. The Senate is expected to take up the measure after the House acts.

Moody’s Tuition Survey Assumes New Norm

Posted on November 19, 2015

Declining enrollment, state tuition caps and affordability concerns are among the drivers of what Moody’s Investors Service is calling a “new normal” for U.S. colleges – minimal year-over-year growth in net tuition revenue, or the amount colleges make off tuition after distributing financial aid.

Moody’s said in its annual tuition survey that it expects last year’s 2-percent growth rate – the weakest in the survey’s history – to continue into the next academic year. About two in three public universities will see less than 3-percent growth in fiscal year 2016, though the financial impact will be partially offset by increased state funding.

Many private universities, meanwhile, are offering even higher discounts, with freshmen paying a little more than half of listed tuition. Less recognized colleges and those with niche markets, like law schools, facing the most pressure to keep prices low.

There’s also a geographic element to the new normal: While universities in the South and West are projecting stronger tuition revenue growth due to large and growing populations, lower high school graduation rates in the Northeast and Midwest have left those institutions more vulnerable.

International students could provide a financial buffer for some of those institutions. Those students comprise just 7 percent or so of U.S. college enrollment, but universities with strong national and global brands are still working to lure those who have the ability to pay full tuition.