Federal Updates

U.S. Department of Education
November 1, 2019 – The Secretary announced deadline dates for the receipt of documents and other information from applicants and institutions participating in certain Federal student aid programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), for the 2019-2020 award year.

• The deadline date for the receipt of a FAFSA by the Department's Central Processing System is June 30, 2020, regardless of the method that the applicant uses to submit the FAFSA. The deadline date for the receipt of a signature page for the FAFSA (if required), corrections, notices of change of address or institution, or requests for a duplicate SAR is September 12, 2020.
• For all title IV, HEA programs, an ISIR or SAR for the student must be received by the institution no later than the student's last date of enrollment for the 2019-2020 award year or September 19, 2020, whichever is earlier.

The Department published the official Final Rule governing the recognition of accrediting agencies, certain student assistance general provisions, and institutional eligibility. The Final Regulation is effective July 1, 2020 with early implementation for § 600.2 (Definitions), § 600.9 (State Authorization), § 668.43 (Institutional Information) and § 668.50 (Severability).

November 4, 2019 – The Department published a notice in the Federal Register requesting continued approval of the reporting and record-keeping requirements that are contained in the General Provisions regulations as well as the specific program regulations for the Federal Perkins Loan program, the Federal Work-Study program, and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunities Grant program. The request seeks to extend this collection for the next three year period.

The Department published a notice in the Federal Register requesting an extension of the current burden calculated for the Direct Loan (DL) Program collection. This information collection for the DL Program is related to regulations for dealing with defaulted loans and forbearance in § 685.205 and reasonable and affordable loan rehabilitation in § 685.211. These regulations provide additional flexibilities for Direct Loan borrowers and permit oral requests for forbearance, as well as allow a borrower to object to the initially established reasonable and affordable loan repayment amount.

December 2, 2019 – The Federal Student Aid’s New Financial Aid Administrators Pre-Conference Training will take place on December 2, 2019 at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center.

December 13, 2019 – Deadline for every organization enrolled for a Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) account to review and validate its assigned TG numbers and Electronic Services user accounts.

Looking Ahead – 2019 FSA Training Conference. The Federal Student Aid Office has opened registration for the 2019 FSA Training Conference scheduled for December 3 to 6 in Reno, Nevada. The FSA Training Conference is training provided for financial aid professionals by the government for those institutions receiving Title IV funds and is the largest training program in the United States serving the financial aid community. In 2018 more than 2,000 unique schools registered for the conference. Registration is free.

U.S. Congress – Newly Introduced Legislation of Note

H.R. 4977 - To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit the use of Federal funds to be used to pay an individual for influencing or attempting to influence an officer of employer of any agency, Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress, and for other purposes.

a.     Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor, 11/1/19

b.     Sponsor: Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) 0 Cosponsor

H.R. 4968 - To provide for the basic needs of students at institutions of higher education.

a.     Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor, 10/31/19

b.     Sponsor: Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) 12 Cosponsors

H.R. 4950 - To direct the Secretary of Education to conduct a study on Federal data collection related to student participation and performance in career and technical education programs, and for other purposes.

a.     Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor, 10/31/19

b.     Sponsor: Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) 1 Cosponsor

S. 2736 - A bill to increase rates of college completion and reduce college costs by accelerating time to degree, aligning secondary and postsecondary education, and improving postsecondary credit transfer.

a.     Status: Referred to the Senate HELP Committee, 10/30/19

b.     Sponsor: Sen. Margaret Hassan (D-NH) 1 Cosponsor

State Updates

Regulatory Updates from Minnesota, Texas and Virginia

The first full week of November finds five state legislatures – all East of the Mississippi River – actively meeting.  This week’s update however focuses on state regulatory developments. 

First, Virginia’s Board for Barbers and Cosmetology will be convening its standing Committee on Training on Monday, November 18.  According to a memorandum to Board members, the following topics will be discussed: 

• Allowing an experience waiver for individuals with out-of-state training that is not equivalent to Virginia’s,
• Revision of the instructor certificate training and license requirements,
• Changes to the transfer student requirements,
• Restructuring the educational requirements for barbers, cosmetologists, nail and wax technicians, and estheticians towards a tiered licensure model, and
• Supporting the creation of a Hair Only license, such as a hair stylist license, in support of the tiered licensure model.

The agenda for the meeting can be found here.  Schools and other stakeholders are invited to meeting and, per the agenda, will be given an opportunity to provide comments to the Board members in attendance.  

Second, Minnesota’s Board of Cosmetology has posted on Facebook that they are “in the very early stages of the overhaul of school rules and is requesting comments and suggestions on updating Minnesota Rules, Chapter 2110 regarding schools, instructors, and school managers. The Board is also seeking applicants to serve on the Advisory Committee on School Rules to assist in the review of current rules and in the development of new or amended rules.” 

Please see the links below for additional information.

Request for Comments (comments due by December 6, 2019)
Advisory Committee Application (due by December 6, 2019)
Charter for Advisory Committee on School Rules

Finally, Texas’ Advisory Board on Cosmetology meeting is scheduled to meet on Monday, November 18, 2019 at 1:30 PM to discuss adopting a curriculum to implement HB 2847 – reducing the course of instruction for cosmetology licensure from 1,500 to 1,000 hours.

Earlier this week, Texas’ Advisory Board on Barbering voted 3 to 2 to forward a proposed regulation to the Texas Register that would reduce the course of instruction for barbering from 1,500 to 1,000 hours.  Schools and other interested parties will be able to comment on the proposed hour reduction when the language is printed.  In the meantime, Monday’s Advisory Council meeting can be viewed here.  

Please do not hesitate to contact Brian Newman at bnewman@abingdonstrategies.com or by phone at 202-491-5254 with any questions.