The Obama administration is proposing that Congress approve a $2 billion-a-year expansion of Pell Grants to finance year-round awards and a bonus for students who stay on track to graduation. The two new Pell proposals are intended to help students to accelerate progress towards their degrees, increasing their likelihood of on-time completion. The first program, “Pell for Accelerated Completion,” would let full-time students earn a third grant award in an academic year (rather than the current limit of two awards). The President and Congress eliminated year-round grants in a 2011 budget bill. The administration’s other proposal, an “On-Track Pell Bonus,” would add $300 to the maximum award for students who take at least 15 credits per semester in an academic year. The administration estimates the bonus would benefit 2.3 million individuals and help them graduate on time. The $2 billion cost for the Pell expansions in fiscal year 2017 will be included in Obama’s budget proposal to be released on February 9, 2016.
Category: College Costs
Congress Passes $1.8 Trillion FY 2016 Spending and Tax Extension Bill
This morning the House & Senate approved a $1.8 trillion fiscal year 2016 omnibus spending bill, averting a government shutdown and funding the federal establishment through September 2016. The measure passed with a 316-113 vote in the House followed by a 65-33 vote in the Senate. President Obama is said to sign the measure into law imminently. We encourage you to review our FY2016 Omnibus Analysis. Please let Christy Gullion, UW Director of Federal Relations (cgullion@uw.edu), or Sarah Castro, UW Associate Director of Federal Relations (smcastro@uw.edu), know if you have questions.
As noted in a previous post, highlights of the bill include:
- The National Institutes of Health received $32 billion, $2 billion above current levels.
- The National Science Foundation is funded at $7.5 billion, an increase of $119 million, and directorates such as Social and Behavioral Sciences were funded at FY 2015 levels.
- NASA is funded at $19.3 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion above the fiscal year 2015 enacted level to advance America’s leadership in space and science. Within this total, $4 billion is provided for Exploration, including funding to keep the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Space Launch System on schedule, and $5.6 billion is provided for science programs.
- Defense research was funded at $69.8 billion for research, development, testing, and evaluation of new defense technologies, which was minor increases.
- The maximum Pell Grant award is increased to $5,915.
- Title VI International Education programs were held at FY 2015 levels.
- NOAA received $5.8 billion, which is $325 million above the fiscal year 2015 enacted level. Funding was included for the National Weather Service to provide critical weather information to the public, and investments in new and existing weather satellites that are essential to maintain and improve weather forecasts, including the Polar Follow On program.
- Maximum Pell Grant award to $5,915, funded by a combination of discretionary and mandatory funds.
In addition to omnibus appropriations, the bill includes a $680 million tax package, which makes permanent several tax provisions that were previously subject to extensions including the research and experimentation tax credit and several charitable donation tax breaks. More information on this can be found here.
Tax Extenders Bill Released
House Republicans unveiled a $650 billion permanent tax package early Wednesday morning. Key elements of the package were the permanent extensions of the research and experimentation tax credit and several charitable donation tax breaks.
Sections of note include:
Section 102. Enhanced American opportunity tax credit is made permanent. The Hope Scholarship Credit is a credit of $1,800 (indexed for inflation) for various tuition and related expenses for the first two years of post-secondary education. It phases out for AGI starting at $48,000 (if single) and $96,000 (if married filing jointly) – these amounts are also indexed for inflation. The American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) takes those permanent provisions of the Hope Scholarship Credit and increases the credit to $2,500 for four years of post-secondary education, and increases the beginning of the phase-out amounts to $80,000 (single) and $160,000 (married filing jointly) for 2009 to 2017. The provision makes the AOTC permanent.
Section 112. Extension of tax-free distributions from individual retirement plans for charitable purposes. The provision permanently extends the ability of individuals at least 70½ years of age to exclude from gross income qualified charitable distributions from Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The exclusion may not exceed $100,000 per taxpayer in any tax year.
Section 121. Extension and modification of research credit. The provision permanently extends the research and development (R&D) tax credit.
Section 153. Extension of above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses. The provision extends through 2016 the above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses for higher education. The deduction is capped at $4,000 for an individual whose AGI does not exceed $65,000 ($130,000 for joint filers) or $2,000 for an individual whose AGI does not exceed $80,000 ($160,000 for joint filers).
Section 211. Employer identification number required for American opportunity tax credit. The provision requires a taxpayer claiming the American opportunity tax credit to report the employer identification number (EIN) of the educational institution to which the taxpayer makes qualified payments under the credit. The provision applies to tax years beginning after December 31, 2015, and expenses paid after such date for education furnished in academic periods beginning after such date.
Section 212. Higher education information reporting only to include qualified tuition and related expenses actually paid. The provision reforms the reporting requirements for Form 1098-T so that educational institutions are required to report only qualified tuition and related expenses actually paid, rather than choosing between amounts paid and amounts billed, as under current law. The provision applies to expenses paid after December 31, 2015 for education furnished in academic periods beginning after such date.
Section 302. Improvements to section 529 accounts. The provision expands the definition of qualified higher education expenses for which tax-preferred distributions from 529 accounts are eligible to include computer equipment and technology. The provision modifies 529-account rules to treat any distribution from a 529 account as coming only from that account, even if the 11 individual making the distribution operates more than one account. The provision treats a refund of tuition paid with amounts distributed from a 529 account as a qualified expense if such amounts are re-contributed to a 529 account within 60 days. The provision is effective for distributions made or refunds after 2014, or in the case of refunds after 2014 and before the date of enactment, for refunds re-contributed not later than 60 days after date of enactment.
For more provisions, a section-by-section summary can be found here.
Ed Takes Aim at Accreditors
Today, Dept. of Education officials announced a series of actions centering on transparency in an effort to force accreditors to focus more on student outcomes and hold failing colleges accountable. For the most part, the accrediting agencies will not be required to change their practices. Instead, ED hopes to drive change by publishing and disseminating a wealth of information about accreditors and the colleges they oversee on a revamped department web page. One definite change accrediting agencies will have to make: submitting decision letters – which the department will then publish online – when they put institutions on probation.
GI Benefits Returned Because of Bad Actors?
Last week, The Defense Department’s chief of voluntary education, Dawn Bilodeau, recently placed the chain of for-profit colleges on probation and said no new active duty service members can enroll under its tuition assistance program. The University of Phoenix is the most popular destination for Post-9/11 GI Bill college goers. This prohibition could be a hot topic today as an education advisory committee to the Veterans Affairs Department Secretary gathers for a two-day meeting starting today. Bilodeau sits on the advisory committee and the University of Phoenix has RSVP’d for the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Education Department has been working with the Defense and Justice departments on an ongoing investigation. University of Phoenix President Timothy Slottow recently wrote to hundreds of thousands of alumni and students to defend the schools’ track record.
The Defense Department’s action does not affect veterans using the GI Bill. And yet, some veterans advocacy groups say the VA should be more aggressive about cutting off GI Bill dollars when schools have deceived students.
It is possible that the meeting will address whether GI Bill recipients, who attended the now-defunct chain of Corinthian schools, should have their benefits reset, which would require congressional action.