Washington Update

House Passes DETERRENT Act
On December 6, the House passed the DETERRENT Act (H.R. 5933) in a 246-170 bipartisan vote, sending the legislation to the Senate, where Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced companion legislation (S. 3362). A timeline for consideration in the Senate is unclear at this time.

The bill would significantly expand U.S. Department of Education Section 117 Foreign Gift Reporting, lower the reporting threshold to $50,000, and prohibit institutions from having any contract with a country of concern (such as China and Russia) unless it receives a waiver from the Secretary of Education.

The White House did not weigh in prior to the House debate; however, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona did post on social media: “As written, the DETERRENT Act attempts to serve these important goals, but it falls short. We would welcome the opportunity to work with Congress to develop a more targeted and effective approach.”

Before House passage of the bill, APLU joined the higher education community in submitting a letter to House leadership opposing the legislation. The letter notes the higher education community’s strong interest in safeguarding the integrity of government-funded research and protecting academic freedom and free speech from foreign influence and/or interference. The letter expresses concerns that the DETERRENT Act is duplicative of existing interagency efforts, unnecessary, and puts in place a problematic expansion of the data collection by the U.S. Department of Education that will broadly curtail important needed international research collaboration and academic and cultural exchanges.

ED Releases FAQ on Section 117 Reporting
The Department of Education recently released in the publication of a new FAQ document on Section 117 reporting. Per the Department, the FAQs are designed to provide clarity on existing reporting requirements and include examples to help institutions comply with their reporting obligations.

Section 117 of the Higher Education Act currently requires institutions receiving federal financial assistance to disclose gifts, either alone or combined, from foreign sources over $250,000 to the Department of Education.

Associations Urge State Department to Extend Visa Processing Flexibilities
APLU joined a higher education community letter urging the U.S. Department of State to extend or make permanent flexibilities established during the COVID-19 pandemic that allow in-person interview requirements to be waived for certain non-immigrants, including international students and scholars applying for F-1 and J-1 visas.

The waiver allows for faster processing times and only applies to certain first-time and renewing applicants, such as those who have previously held a visa, were not previously denied a visa, are citizens of a country participating in the visa waiver program, or are applying for a renewal of the same visa classification within four years. The letter emphasizes the waivers’ role in helping the U.S. attract international students and scholars while maintaining national security and allowing for faster processing of visas overall.

Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act Passes House Education and Workforce Committee
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) introduced the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act (H.R. 6585). The committee also released a bill summary and fact sheet.

The legislation creates Workforce Pell Grants for programs at least eight weeks in length at public, nonprofit, and for-profit institutions. The bill summary notes the costs of the program are offset by prohibiting institutions subject to the endowment tax from awarding federal student loans to eligible students and from awarding Parent PLUS loans to parents of Pell Grant recipients. The manager’s amendment adds that institutions subject to the endowment tax will be ineligible for Supplementary Educational Opportunity Grants unless they provide all Pell Grant students with nonfederal grants and scholarships at least as high as the cost of attendance, and increase their percentage of Pell Grant students.

APLU has expressed concern to committee staff about the offsets in the bill and joined the higher education community in opposing the offsets.

Institute for Education Sciences (IES) Reauthorization Passes Senate HELP Committee
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed the Advancing Research in Education Act (S. 3392) by a vote of 20 to 1.  The bill would be the first update to the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) since 2002. The bill would strengthen the education researcher pipeline, increase the participation of individuals and institutions historically underrepresented in federal education research, increase research emphasis on postsecondary completion, expand research-practice partnerships, and add research focus on educational equity from early childhood through adult learners. A section by section summary of the bill is available here.

The bill passed the HELP Committee by a vote of 20-1, with all but Senator Paul (R-KY) voting for the bill.