Washington Update

ED Releases Gainful Employment/Financial Value Transparency (GE/FVT) Completers List 
The U.S. Department of Education released a revised version of the Gainful Employment and Financial Value Transparency completers list. Institutions now have until January 15, 2025, to review and correct student information. During this correction period, institutions can add or remove individual students from the GE/FVT calculations. Also due on January 15, 2025 are debt lists for purposes of reporting for the financial value transparency debt to earnings metrics. ED anticipates sending these lists to institutions in the near future.

APLU understands the challenges institutions face in implementing this regulation and in reviewing and submitting accurate completers lists by January 15. The association is working with the higher education community to determine next steps on a response. As a reminder, APLU President Mark Becker called on ED to extend the reporting deadline to July 2025. More detailed information is available in Federal Student Aid’s Electronic Announcement. 

APLU, Association of American Universities Share FY26 Budget Priorities 
APLU President Mark Becker and Association of American Universities President Barbara Snyder sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young outlining higher education and research priorities for the FY26 budget request.

While APLU the Biden administration is unlikely to release an FY26 budget, agencies have been developing budget requests under several scenarios for the coming fiscal year.  

APLU Joins Energy Science Coalition Letter on FY25 Appropriations 
APLU joined the Energy Science Coalition’s FY2025 Office of Science conference statement. The letter was sent last week to House and Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittees, as well as House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.  

The letter urges appropriators provide at least $8.6 billion in FY 2025 for the DOE Office of Science, consistent with the Senate mark. It also recommends that Congress provide an additional $900 million in supplemental funding to increase total appropriations in FY 2025 for the DOE Office of Science to $9.5 billion, consistent with the FY 2024 authorized funding level in the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. 

FAFSA Beta Testing Participation Exceeds Targets; FSA Announces Increased Resources for Students & Families 
A new Federal Student Aid Electronic Announcement includes information about new and updated resources for institutions as they begin their preparations for the 2025–26 FAFSA cycle. It also includes information about recent technical fixes to the FAFSA form and system, which the Department of Education announced will be broadly available by December 1, 2024. The latest beta participation data is available on FSA’s website, which exceeds the initial goals for both testing windows. 

In preparation for increased activity once the 2025–26 FAFSA form is broadly available, ED announced improvements to the resources and contact centers used by students and families. These improvements include updates to its virtual assistant to reflect 2025–26 information and increased investments in training and staffing levels at the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC), including an increase in the number of agents by more than 80 percent and the addition of evening and Saturday hours during the first few months that the 2025–26 FAFSA form is broadly available. 

ED Will Not Publish Final Rule on Distance Education, TRIO, Return of Title IV Aid
The Department of Education did not publish a final rule on distance education, federal TRIO programs, and Return of Title IV aid in time for a rule to be effective July 1, 2025 given the volume of substantive comments they received.

In August, APLU joined the higher education community in submitting comments on the NPRM. The comments focus on logistical concerns with the creation of a virtual location for purposes of reporting distance education information, challenges with recording enrollment in distance education courses, and the removal of asynchronous learning from clock hour programs.  

New Reports: Freshman Enrollment Drops, but More Students Overall Enroll and Receive Financial Aid Increase 
The National Student Clearinghouse reported that compared to last fall, overall undergraduate enrollment increased by three percent. Yet first-year enrollment fell by more than five percent, likely a result of the delayed FAFSA rollout and demographic trends. Four-year public institutions saw an 8.5 percent drop in first-year enrollment. 

On the positive side, the U.S. Department of Education released new data indicating that three percent more students are set to receive federal financial aid this year. This includes a ten percent increase in Pell Grant recipients, likely due much in part to expanded eligibility this year.