Washington Update

Congress Finalizes Fiscal Year 2024 Funding 

President Biden signed into law the six remaining appropriations bills over the weekend, completing the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) appropriations process. The package of bills included funding through the end of the current fiscal year (September 30, 2024) for the U.S. Department of Education, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Department of State, and other federal agencies of interest to public research universities. 

APLU developed the following materials to better understand the impact of the funding that was approved: 

• A chart detailing funding levels for APLU priority accounts 
• Detailed analysis of the funding deal’s impact on public research universities  
• Detailed analysis of the six bills passed earlier this month  

With completion of the FY24 appropriations process, Congress now turns its attention to FY25. Under the budget agreement congressional leaders and President Biden reached earlier this year, FY25 non-defense discretionary spending will increase just 1 percent over FY24 levels, presenting another challenging year.  

FAFSA Updates 

FSA Reports Schools Received Miscalculated ISIRs (Institutional Student Information Records) for Dependent Students with Assets 

Last Friday, FSA reported an issue with the Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) provided to institutions. The FAFSA Processing System provided incorrect calculations for about 200,000 dependent students who reported assets, resulting in a Student Aid Index (SAI) that was lower than expected.  

Per FSA, institutions should continue processing dependent students without assets as planned. FSA will reprocess impacted ISIRs for dependent students with assets. As an interim fix, schools can develop a tentative aid package for impacted students by recalculating the SAI without waiting for a reprocessed ISIR. 

Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) Posts FAFSA Status Tracker and Resources 

FSA published a new FAFSA Status Tracker with the number of FAFSAs submitted and the number of records it has sent to schools. The page also compiles resources and training for institutions and staff.  

FSA Delays Student FAFSA Correction Window Until “First Half of April” 

On Monday, FSA announced updates to the FAFSA timeline for this year. FSA will delay students’ ability to correct or update their submitted FAFSA until the first half of April. Common student mistakes include submitting without a signature, and mistakenly checking an unclear FAFSA checkbox that they only want to apply for an unsubsidized loan, and no other types of aid.  

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Addresses APLU’s Concern; Fixes Fees to Exempt Public Universities 

In February, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule to adjust immigration and naturalization fees, effective April 1, 2024. Under the rule, nonprofits are exempt from a $600 fee attached to each H-1B petition that funds the asylum program. This exemption stemmed from comments submitted by the higher education community in response to the proposed rule. However, the final rule inadvertently omitted many public research universities from the exemption. APLU raised this concern with USCIS in a letter.  

Consistent with APLU’s request, earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a correction to the USCIS fee rule. Under the correction, DHS defines nonprofit colleges and universities as “institutions of higher education, as classified in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act”, which now extends eligibility to all public universities. 

Bipartisan Postsecondary Student Success Act Introduced 

Last week, Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Representatives Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) and Lori Chavez-Deremer (R-OR) introduced  The Postsecondary Student Success Act of 2024.The bill, which APLU endorsed, would authorize funding from fiscal year 2025 through 2030 for Postsecondary Student Success competitive Grants that support evidence-based retention programs. The grants may include:  

• Faculty and peer counseling services 
• Real-time data collection on student progress 
• Incentives for re-enrollment 
• Career pathway programs, including those to improve transfer student success 

The bill would build on the recent success of the relatively new federal Postsecondary Student Success Grant program to support retention and other student success programs. Thus far, Congress has funded the grants on an annual basis, but this new bill would authorize funding for six years (though Congress would still need to appropriate the funding each year).  

More than 100 institutions applied for 15 grants in the first two years of the program’s existence. APLU hosted three webinars and developed an evidence-based practice guide for its members to apply and win; APLU institutions make up most program winners thus far. 

The bill text and summary are available here.