Washington Update

APLU Statement on the Selection of Michael Kratsios and Lynne Parker for Senior Science and Technology Roles
On December 23, 2024, APLU President Mark Becker released a statement praising President-elect Trump’s nomination of Michael Kratsios as Director of the White House Office of Technology Policy (OSTP) and appointment of Lynne Parker as Executive Director of the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology, and Counselor to the OSTP Director. President Becker expressed the association’s interest in “working with Mr. Kratsios and Dr. Parker to advance American scientific and innovation leadership in partnership with public research universities.”

Biden Signs Stop Campus Hazing Act into Law Before EOY, Accelerating Compliance Timeline
In the final days of the 118th Congress, the Senate passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act, (H.R. 5646) and President Biden signed it into law on December 23, 2024. APLU appreciates its members’ engagement throughout the legislative process, which helped demonstrate the higher education community’s commitment to fostering safe campus environments and secure helpful changes in the legislation as it was considered in the House of Representatives. The new legislation:

• Creates a federal definition of hazing, inclusive of physical and psychological injuries;
• Requires a statement of policy on hazing prevention and awareness programs;
• Requires two types of annual hazing transparency reports—one amending the Clery Annual Security Report and a new “Campus Hazing Transparency Report,” which must be published twice annually.

Between the lines: While both reports use the same definition of hazing behaviors, they rely on different definitions of student organizations. For purposes of the Clery Annual Security Report, the bill requires a more expansive definition, including incidents occurring at student organizations that are not formally recognized by institutions. For purposes of the Campus Hazing Transparency Report, the definition is limited to formally recognized student organizations.

With the legislation enacted before year-end, institutions now face an accelerated timeline to comply as the collection of hazing statistics was set to begin “not later than January 1 of the first year after the date of enactment of this Act.” The legislation establishes phased timelines for compliance and the retention of records for other aspects of the bill with other deadlines this summer.

Biden Administration Title IX Regulation Overturned in Federal Court, ED Withdraws NPRM on Title IX in Athletics
In a decision released last week, the United States District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky, Northern Division, granted a motion for summary judgement in its challenge to the Biden administration regulations on Title IX and sex discrimination. The regulation was already temporarily blocked in many states due to a number of lawsuits. The litigation was brought by the state attorney generals of Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia.

More on Title IX: The Biden administration also withdrew its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) aimed at establishing standards to allow student athletes to participate in athletics teams consistent with their gender identity. The decision was made “in light of the comments received and those various pending court cases.” During the NPRM’s 30-day comment period, ED reported it received over 150,000 responses, which offered varying perspectives. While both address Title IX, the NPRM related to transgender student-athletes was separate from the Biden administration’s court-vacated final rule.

ED Withdraws Rule to Provide Student Debt Relief for Financial Hardship
On December 20, ED formally withdrew its NPRM to provide student debt relief for students experiencing financial hardship. Several federal courts have stopped the Biden administration’s earlier attempts to provide federal student loan debt relief, and the latest proposal may not have survived additional legal action or a Congressional Review Act resolution.

FAFSA Deadline Act Signed into Law, FSA Leadership Changes, Resources
On December 11, President Biden signed the FAFSA Deadline Act (H.R. 8932) into law. APLU endorsed the legislation, which will require ED to make the FAFSA available beginning October 1 annually, rather than January 1 in current law. The Secretary of Education must certify to Congress by September 1 annually that the FAFSA will be ready on time, and if not, the Secretary must testify before the authorizing committees on the financial impact the FAFSA delay will have on students and families.

The Big Picture: As APLU shared in its endorsement letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce during committee markup, the tumultuous rollout of the FAFSA created severe harms, and while timeline is just one factor of a smooth implementation, it is a critical component. 

Biden signs FY25 National Defense Authorization Act into law
One of the final bipartisan acts of the 118^th Congress was to pass the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (H.R.5009), which became law on December 23, 2024. The legislation authorizes $883.7 billion for defense-related activities.

Go Deeper: The bill nixed several concerning provisions raised in the APLU & AAU FY25 NDAA Conference Priorities Letter, including provisions related to research security, gain-of-function research, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act compliance. Notable retained provisions include a pilot program for shared classified infrastructure access and research security measures focusing on collaborations with entities on the Department of Defense’s (DOD) 1286 list, which contains foreign entities engaging in activity found to be problematic. The bill also includes up to $220 million for the CHIPS and Science Act’s Regional Tech Hubs program.

More details can be found in APLU’s analysis of the final bill.

Department of Education Regulatory Update
During the holiday break, the Department of Education (ED) issued final rules for Distance Education, Return to Title IV, and TRIO, and withdrew proposed rules on Title IX Transgender Participation and Student Debt Relief.

• ED Finalizes Rules for Distance Ed and Return to Title IV, Withdraws Proposals
  on Virtual Locations, TRIO
  ED published final regulations in the Federal Register for Return of Title IV Aid to take effect July 1, 2026, with reporting requirements for online enrollments effective July 1, 2027. ED provided a summary press release. APLU joined the higher education community comments on the proposed rules, identifying three major issues with the distance education rule and several areas for clarification with the Return of Title IV Aid.
  
• Distance Ed and Virtual Locations
  ED did not move forward with problematic provisions that would have created a new virtual location for purposes of reporting online enrollment and that would have limited the asynchronous coursework from clock-hour programs, two provisions APLU and the higher education community focused on in our comments. The rule maintains provisions that institutions report enrollment in distance education courses through the National Student Loan Data System, beginning July 1, 2027.
  
• Return to Title IV (R2T4)
  The final regulations accepted a request from APLU and the higher education community that institutions not be required to take attendance for distance education courses. The new regulations state institutions may refund all Title IV aid to ED, without needing to calculate attendance days, if the institution has a policy for student withdrawals that refunds institutional charges and cancels students’ balances.
  
• TRIO
  ED withdrew its proposal to expand TRIO services to undocumented students in the pre-college Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Educational Opportunity Centers programs.

ED Announces Postsecondary Success Recognition Program Winners
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced winners of its new Postsecondary Success Recognition Program (PSRP), which included APLU member institutions San Jose State University, University of Texas at Arlington, and Georgia State University. ED awarded Georgia State University with a trailblazer award for helping over 100 institutions nationwide improve outcomes through its National Institute for Student Success.

PSRP highlights institutions that enroll underserved students, successfully facilitate transfers and completions, and promote economic mobility after graduation. Based on these metrics, ED invited applications from 100 primarily bachelor’s degree-granting institutions, with public universities comprising a majority of invited applicants. Applicants shared how they use evidence-based practices in a campus-wide strategy to improve success for underserved students. As background, last year APLU submitted comments to ED’s request for information on how to develop the recognition program, based on experience in managing the APLU Degree Completion Award.