The legislation aimed at addressing problems in the GI Bill benefits process as a result of academic programs moving to on-line delivery, S. 3503, was signed into law on Saturday.
News and updates
Senate Democrats Stall Vote on COVID-19 Package
Today Senate Democrats defeated a procedural vote on a $1.6 trillion COVID-19 spending package. Democrats seek to include additional provisions whereas Senate Republicans call for a quick vote. Negotiations continue with Senate and the White House. Full story at Politico.
Senate Democrats Release Outline of Student Assistance Plan
Countering the Republican efforts to assist students that were included in the “Phase 3” bill, Senate Democrats released a summary of their own proposal on the issue. The legislative text for the plan has not yet been released.
The summary of the plan, as prepared by the Democratic staff, is here and a press release about the proposal is here.
Again, while the legislative text is not yet available, the centerpiece of the plan is the federal repayment of student loans during the COVID-19 crisis.
Broader Higher Education Community Looks to Engage with Federal Government to Address Community-Wide Challenges
Yesterday, the broader higher education community sent to Congress a series of recommendations and requests for assistance aimed at stabilizing the entire enterprise as it tries to cope with COVID-19. The requests fall into a number of distinct categories:
- One set of requests addresses the immediate financial challenges facing both students and institutions.
- Another set of requests focuses on the unique circumstances that research universities face as they deal with trying to mitigate the impact on research.
- The third set focuses on tax-related provisions that could assist students, families, and institutions.
Major Changes to Student Loans, K-12 Testing, Due to COVID-19
Today President Trump announced the below changes affecting the Department of Education as a result of COVID-19:
- The Department of Education will not enforce standardized testing for K-12 institutions this school year.
- Federal student loan borrowers may suspend payments for up to 60 days, retroactive from March 13th, 2020. The borrower must contact their loan servicer to make the change.
- All federal student loan interest rates will be automatically set to 0% for the next 60 days.
The changes are designed to allow school districts to cope with long-term closures, as well as allow loan borrowers to offset financial hardships as a result of the COVID-19 national emergency.