The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released today information, including a webinar, on how institutions moving to on-line delivery as a result of Covid-19 can ensure that their students with disabilities can still be served.
The release from OCR is available here.
As part of the census process every 10 years, colleges and universities are required to collect and provide certain pieces of information about their student population to the Census Bureau. 2020 is a census year.
For the census, college students living in on-campus housing are counted through their university as part of the bureau’s Group Quarters Operation. Due to the impact of COVID-19 on colleges and universities, the Census Bureau issued a statement on Monday highlighting several modifications to the policies and timelines it had in place for the census. The statement reads, in part, as follows:
The full statement from the Census Bureau is available here.
Earlier this week, with the numbers of both K-12 districts and institutions of higher education trying to deal with COVID-19 concerns growing, the federal Department of Education released an FAQs document with respect to what institutions can and cannot do in the area of sharing of students’ educational records and personally identifiable information.
In the document, ED discusses a number of situations in which student information can and cannot be shared. The FAQs are available here.
US Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) unveiled today a $2.7 Billion package aimed to assist schools and colleges with providing for student needs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Murray is the Ranking Member on both the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, as well as the Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
The Supporting Students in Response to Coronavirus Act would provide over $1 Billion to ensure college students have access to food, housing, child care, and other basic needs, as well as help institutions prepare for closures and pay cleaning fees. The bill would also ensure students do not have to pay back financial aid if they are forced to withdraw, and gives the Department of Education more flexibility regarding financial aid. Additionally, the proposal would help staff childcare centers and increase funds for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. The bill is cosponsored by Democratic Leader Senator Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Gillibrand (D-NY).
Read the full story at Forbes.
Today the Senate voted 53-42 to block a rewrite from the Department of Education overturning the “borrower defense” rule. The rule was put in place during the Obama Administration and governs the process for wiping out student debt when the student has been defrauded by a predatory for-profit college.
Ten Republican senators broke with the Trump administration to vote in favor of the resolution, which now heads to President Trump to be signed into law. The legislation does not have a veto-proof majority, so the President can opt to veto.