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News and updates

News and updates

White House Initiative Releases Financial Aid Guide for Hispanic Students

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The White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanics released a new guide on financial aid today. Available in both Spanish and English, the guide consolidates and outlines existing resources in a culturally relevant way for Hispanic students. The guide aims to better support these students in their efforts to enroll in and pay for higher education. It includes recommendations for how to complete college application materials and the FAFSA form, and provides tips on choosing the right college and an overview of financing options. In addition, the guide includes resources for students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status and non-U.S. citizen students.

Access the guide on the Initiative’s web page.  The guide will also be housed on the U.S. Department of Education’s new online resource page, Educational Resources for New Arrivals & DACA students.

House Science Committee Passes FIRST (almost)

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In an incredibly partisan and late mark up, the House Science Committee finally finished considering the 27 proposed and debated amendments to the FIRST Act (HR 4186). Given the lengthy and contentious nature of the hearing, the roll call votes and final passage of the measure have been postponed until next week. Therefore, as of yet, the FIRST Act has not passed. The bill is expected to pass largely by party lines.

A list of amendments and 15 roll call votes can be found here.

Durring the mark up, Members did raise concern that the legislation as written would pass authorization levels for agencies like NSF that would be less than what Appropriators have already passed in the House  Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill.

Before the markup, there was a significant opposition to the bill expressed by the science community. The National Science Board, which oversees NSF, took the largely unprecedented step in issuing a statement against the legislation because of the perceived Congressional intervention into which science has merit, rather than allowing NSF to continue peer review.

At this point, it is unclear if and when FIRST Act will pass out of Committee or if the FIRST Act will go to the House Floor.

The Office of Federal Relations will continue to track the progress of this legislation.

 

 

 

 

 

Patent Reform Legislation Pulled from Agenda

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Consideration of comprehensive patent legislation appears to be off the agenda for the year after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy (D-VT) pulled it from his committee’s agenda on Wednesday. He cited frustration with unproductive negotiations as the reason for the turnaround. The measure had been slated for consideration by the committee today but less than 24 hours before the scheduled markup, Leahy announced that members again had failed to reach a compromise and that the bill would be put on hold indefinitely.

One of the biggest areas of disagreement was over fee shifting, the idea of making the losing party in patent lawsuits pay the winner’s legal fees. Earlier this month, Senate negotiators began to coalesce around compromise language from Senators Cornyn (R-TX) and Schumer (D-NY) that included milder litigation reforms. The research university community, along with other major patent holders, successfully advocated against the measure arguing that the bill would cause more problems for universities than it would solve.

It is uncertain if patent reform legislation will return to the congressional agenda this year.

U.S. Department of Education Announces $75 Million First in the World Competition

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To spur innovation in higher education aimed at helping more students access and complete a college degree or credential, the U.S. Department of Education announced late last week the availability of $75 million in the First in the World (FITW) program. The grants will fund the development and testing of innovative approaches and strategies at colleges and universities that improve college attainment and make higher education more affordable for students and families. 

The FITW competition aims to increase postsecondary access, affordability, and completion for underrepresented, underprepared, or low-income students at institutions across the country. Colleges and universities are invited to submit proposals addressing key priorities around boosting enrollment and attainment for those students, or minimizing gaps between these students and their peers; improving transfer rates between community college and four-year institutions; increasing enrollment and completion rates among underrepresented, underprepared, or low-income students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs; reducing time to completion; and/or increasing college affordability.

FITW is designed to spur a diverse array of innovative ideas and approaches in order to dramatically improve student learning and outcomes. Applications are available now and due by June 30th. All grants will be awarded by September 2014. The Department will post further information, including information about webinars and other technical assistance, on the FIPSE Web page.

ED Announces Plan College Ratings Timeframe

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Today, the Department of Education (ED) announced a timeframe for rolling out the Administration’s proposed College Ratings system. In a post by Deputy Under Secretary Jamienne Studley entitled, “Making it Easier to Pick and Pay for College through Ratings“, the Administration announced that the college ratings system will be ready this Fall and a final version will be ready before the 2015-16 school year.

You can read the post here.