Major Update

• House and Senate Pass FUTURE Act, Restoring Funding to HBCUs and Minority Institutions and Simplifying FAFSA
  In a major win for higher education policy, and a remarkable bipartisan, bicameral achievement in our increasingly polarized politics, Congress has passed H.R. 5363, the FUTURE Act, and sent it to the President’s desk for signature. UPCEA and other organizations have urged for its passing since the previously allocated funding for HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions expired on September 30 of this year. Initially used by Senator Alexander (R-TN) as a bargaining chip to try and achieve a more broad-based Higher Education Act Reauthorization, the final bill achieved less than he originally intended but did include much-needed tweaks to the FAFSA, simplifying the procedure for students, and allowing for almost two dozen questions to be removed from the form because of data sharing with the IRS, which previously did not occur.

• DeVos Proposes Spinning Off Federal Student Loans from Education Department into Independent Agency
  The Trump administration has floated idea of spinning off the totality of the federal student loan portfolio as a stand-alone government corporation,” according to Secretary DeVos. Although no bill language was introduced, Democratic response to the early mention of the concept signaled that any bill would be unlikely to pass the House of Representatives.