This week the U.S. Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through March 4.
The resolution, which the U.S. House is expected to pass later today, would pay down the $5.7 billion shortfall in the Pell Grant program. This averted a 15% cut in the maximum award.
Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010 (S. 3447).
The Act updates the original Post-9/11 GI Bill by addressing current implementation problems and making the policies more relevant to the needs of today’s veterans.
The final bill makes several changes to the current legislation.
The Act now goes to the President for his signature.
Last night the U.S. House of Representatives passed the tax and unemployment benefit package – The Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010. The U.S. Senate passed the bill earlier this week.
The Act includes several financial aid provisions for higher education.
The Act now goes to the President for his signature.
The tentative federal tax deal dominating the news includes potential benfits for students and their families.
Yesterday, the Obama administration struck a tentative deal with Republicans to temporarily extend Bush-era tax cuts in order to garner support for additional tax breaks, including a two-year extension of the American Opportunity Tax Credit.
The American Opportunity Tax Credit, which is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, provides a tax credit of up to $2,500 per student for those who make less than $80,000 ($160,000 for joint filers). This credit is partially refundable making it available to low-income families that don’t owe any taxes.
Despite the deal, there is a lack of consensus, making final passage of the tax-cut extension deal uncertain, especially in the House where there appears to be more opposition to parts of the agreement.
In addition to the American Opportunity Tax Credit several other provisions are scheduled to expire at the end of this year if the 111th Congress is unable to extend expiring higher education tax breaks before it adjourns.
Students and parents will be able to take advantage of these benefits when they file taxes in April 2011, but won’t know if they will be able to take advantage of them for the 2011 tax year (when they file in 2012) until Congress makes it clear if they will be extended or not.
In addition, several higher education tax benefits expired in 2009, including:
This week, the Obama Administration is expected to release new finalized regulations for colleges and universities that participate in federal student aid programs.
The regulations amount to a significant expansion of federal oversight of higher education. The regulations range from efforts to reshape how admissions recruiters are paid to how course credits are defined to how career training programs are launched.
A hotly debated fourteenth proposal, known to many as the “gainful employment” regulation is still pending and expected to be resolved in early 2011. The “gainful employment” regulation would force for-profit colleges and others that offer non-degree vocational programs to meet new standards related to student debt to qualify for federal aid.
A list was released Wednesday of forty groups and institutions that had either met or will meet with the U.S. Department of Education in the coming weeks to discuss their comments on the gainful employment metrics.
In the works for over a year, the thirteen regulations were circulated among lawmakers yesterday. The rules will take effect July 1, 2011.
The Obama Administration is publicly supporting making permanent a temporary tax credit for higher education.
The American Opportunity Tax Credit, due to expire at the end of this year, expanded the existing Hope Credit to more Americans and covers a greater range of items, including computers and textbooks.
The tax credit was passed by Congress as parent of the stimulus bill.
Yesterday the U.S. House Committee on Education & Labor releasd a list of Pell Grant awards by Congressional district. The list includes figures for the total Pell Grant amount received as well as the number of recipients who report that district as their residence.
In Washington, the Third Congressional District, which represents The Evergreen State College, ranked second highest in the state for recipients of the Pell Grant (19,414) for AY 2009-2010. TheFifth Congressional District leads the state with 21,372 Pell recipients.
The Fifth Congressional District encompasses the Eastern Washington counties of Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Lincoln, Spokane, Adams, Whitman, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin.
The information is based on AY 2008-09 and AY 2009-2010 data from the U.S. Department of Education. AY 2009-2010 grant information is estimated.
This week the U.S. Department of Education released a new strategic plan for the Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid.
The plan, Federal Student Aid: Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2011-15, identifies five strategic goals with several objectives for each goal. Each goal is aligned with performance targets to be achieved over the next five years.
More specifically the plan calls for efforts to increase awareness about the availability of federal student aid and to educate students about the costs and benefits of specific postsecondary programs. In addition, the plan promises increased oversight of for-profit colleges and a greater focus on the credit risks assoicated with student loans.
A new marketing campaign promoting Washington’s Lottery as a source of funding for higher education financial aid programs is expected in the coming months.
At the direction of the 2010 Legislature, Washington’s Lottery can now be used to partly fund the State Need Grant, State Work Study, Washington Scholars, the Washington Award for Vocational Excellence (WAVE), and other programs.
The HECB is working with Washington’s Lottery to communicate this news statewide. Senate Bill 6409, prime-sponsored by Senator Jim Kastama, established a Lottery-funded Opportunity Pathways account, from which funds can be directed to student financial aid and early learning programs.
In the current Fiscal Year 2011, about 65 percent ($73.5 million) of Lottery dollars in the Opportunity Pathways account will be used to help fund the State Need Grant program, and 35 percent ($40 million) will support early learning programs.
Other funding for these programs will come from the General Fund. Lottery proceeds that previously contributed to K-12 construction projects will continue to be funded at $102 million under the General Fund.
General Fund appropriations for financial aid were reduced significantly in the 2011 supplemental budget. It is hoped that greater awareness about the Lottery’s contribution to higher education scholarships and financial aid will spur increased public support, reducing the need for General Fund appropriations.
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Humans Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved a $169.6 billion FY11 appropriations bill.
The bill would seek to maintain a level appropriated base for the Federal Pell Grant program of $4,860. That amount, combined with a mandatory add-on from the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA), would provide a maximum Pell Grant of $5,550 in the 2011-12 year. However, the Senate appropriation markup did not include $5.7 billion to plug an estimated Pell Grant shortfall in the 2011-12 year. The House version did include the $5.7 billion.
In addition to Pell appropriations, the spending bill would maintain level funding for the majority of the other student aid programs. The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) program, the Federal Work-Study (FWS), program, and the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships (LEAP) program in fiscal year (FY) 2011 would all be level funded under the appropriations bill. TRIO would be increased by $15 million under the bill and Perkins cancellations would receive no funding.
The full appropriations committee is expected to take up the bill this Thursday.