U.S. Senate Committee Takes Action on FY11 Appropriations Bill

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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.

Race To The Top Finalists Named…Washington Not One of Them

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This afternoon the Obama Administration named eighteen states and the District of Columbia as finalists for Race to the Top dollars. Washington was not a finalist.

Of the 36 states that competed for the dollars, the following states and the District of Columbia were named finalists: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinios, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

Finalists will make formal, in-person presentations before a judging panel in August. Winners will be named in September.

The U.S. Education Department used a panel of outside judges to score each applicatioon based on 19 criteria, including willingness to open charter schools, efforts to link teacher evaluations to student achievement and dedication to transforming the lowest-performing schools.

During the 2010 supplemental session Washington developed and passed legislation to put into place the necessary structures and policies to support the state’s Race to the Top application. Washington’s application requested $250 million to support these efforts through Race to the Top dollars.

Governor Hints at Special Session

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Late this week Governor Gregoire suggested that she would consider a special session if the federal Medicaid matching dollars do not come to the state by August 9.

Speaking to KOMO radio she shared that she would consider a special session and will consult with legislative leaders to limit a session to a day or two.

This comes at a time when Washington faces a projected shortfall of $3 billion in the 2011-13 budget cycle and a slow economic recovery that is forcing fundamental changes in state operations.

Speculation suggests that a special session could take place as soon as September.

U.S. Drops Lead in Young College Graduates

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The United States has fallen from 1st place to 12th place in the share of adults ages 25-34 with postsecondary degrees.

According to a recent report released by The College Board, Canada is now the global leader in higher education among young adults, with 55.8 percent of that population holding an associate degree or beyond as of 2007, the year of the latest international ranking.

Though the United States’ ranking improves when older adults are added to the equation among all nations – he U.S. ranks 6th – the report focuses on younger college students because there is great concern that this will be the first generation in the modern era that will be less well-educated than their parents.

In response the College Board’s Commission on Access, Admissions, and Success in Higher Education and the National Confernce of State Legislatures has  produced a pratical 10-part  action agenda to increase the number of Americans who attain a postsecondary degree and empower  legislators to be an even more positive and active force.

The 10-part action agenda calls for policymakers to undertake the following recommendations which are considered investments that might raise college completion rates.

  • Provide a program of voluntary preschool education, universally available to children from low-income families
  • Improve middle and high school college and career counseling
  • Implement the best research-based dropout prevention programs
  • Align the K-12 education system with international standards and college admission expectations
  • Improve teacher quality and focus on recruitment and retention
  • Clarify and simplify the admission process
  • Provide more need-based grant aid while simplifying and making financial aid processes more transparent
  • Keep college affordable
  • Dramatically increase college completion rates
  • Provide postsecondary opportunities as an essential element of adult education programs.

Federal Language Re: Textbook Costs Goes Into Effect

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It appears that textbook costs to students may be lower in the future given recent federal legislative language.

The federal Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 went into effect on July 1, 2010 . Part of the language included in the bill will require the relationship between many textbook publishers and colleges to change.

As of July 1, 2010, publishers are required to disclose prices and revision information when marketing textbooks to professors, which will allow them to choose lower-cost options. In addition, publishers are required to offer all of the items in the textbook bundles for sale separately so students will not be forced to pay for materials they do not need. Finally, the Act encourages Colleges to provide a list of assigned textbooks for each course so students can shop around for the best deal.

Program for Veterans’ Spouses Reinstated

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This fall the Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts program (MyCAA) will be available again beginning October 25.

This past winter (February 2010) MyCAA was paused after a surge of applications threatened to drain its budget. At the time the program provided tuition of up to $6,000 for any military spouse to train for a portable career, one capable of enduring frequent military moves.

When the program returns the benefits will top out at $4,000. In addition, only spouses of junior service members “E1-E5, W1-W2, and O1-O2” will be eligible and those eligible for the program will be restricted to pursuing associate degrees,certificates, and licenses.

U.S. Senate Committee Considers Veterans’ Benefits

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The U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held another hearing on legislation that would streamline benefits for veterans under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

S. 3447 would revamp the benefit formula that has been in place since the Post-9/11 GI Bill took effect last year. The bill, as currently written, would establish a new national cap on benefits for private colleges – both for- and non-profit.

The new cap would be derived from the average tuition and fees of all private and public baccalaureate institutions across the nation, instead of the maximum benefit on the highest tuition of any public program in a given state. 

Many higher education officials are supportive of the concept of setting a national standard of benefits and agree with the goal of erasing inequities between states. However, there is concern that the currrent discussion regarding a cap would result inveterans at private institutions receiving less funding in nearly 25 states. Language for the bill is still being hammered out.

In addition, the bill would make small changes with regards to funding for undergraduate education at public institutions and extend benefits to more members of the National Guard and Active Guard Reserve.  This could potentially lead to coverage for an additional 30,000 whom were not covered by the original law.

Finally, the bill extends housing allowances to students taking courses purely online. Though the current GI Bill provides no allowance to students taking on distance education courses, the legislation under consideration would provide those students with 50 percent of the allowance given to residential students.

Governor Holds First Public Hearing on Budget

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On Tuesday evening in Tacoma, the Governor and staff held the first of four currently scheduled statewide public hearings in Tacoma.

The media estimated approximately 450 individuals in attendance in the standing-room only crowd at the University of Washington Tacoma campus.

Approximately 140 people signed up to speak and raised several ideas with regards to the services government should and should not deliver.

Some of the ideas that were expressed, and are echoed on the transforming the budget website set up by the Governor, include no longer providing meals to state workers during meetings, reducing the number of license plates for Washington registered cars from two to one, and legalizing marijuana.

Others shared the areas of government that should not be cut including affordable housing, preservation of recreation areas, and education and health care.

The next public hearing on the budget is scheduled for July 21 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Everett Community College.

Governor Launches Budget Idea Website

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On the heels of the Governor’s statewide tour regarding the 2011-13 budget an interactive website was launched.

Over the next month Governor Gregoire plans to hold public hearings in Everett, Spokane, and Vancouver to share the budget decisions facing Washington and the resources that will be available for the budget as well as hear from the public their ideas and thought about what services the government should and should not deliver.

The website, launched the same day as the first public hearing in Tacoma, is an interactive website that will allow Washingtonians to share, comment, and vote on budget ideas.

The most highly rated ideas by viewers will rise to the top of the list and be considered by state budget writers.  Ideas will be posted between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

NGA Provides Further Details on Common Set of Measures for Higher Education

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Earlier this week the new chair of the National Governor’s Association announced plans to create a common set of measures to monitor progress and compare states for higher education.

The report released along with the announcement is expected to be followed by a technical guide to states in the coming weeks.

In addition, the initiative will also incorporate the following actions in the coming months.

  • Develop a series of best practices and a list of policy actions governors can choose to use;
  • Hold a national summit;
  • Provide grants to states to design policies and programs to reach these goals; and
  • Hold a learning institute for governors’ senior advisors.