• Trump Administration Reverses Course on Denying Student Visas — Later Blocks New International Students if Coursework is Fully Online
  Guidance first released July 6 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) restricted visas if an international student’s coursework was fully online in the fall, and requested that institutions notify them by July 15 if this was going to be the case. Critics warned the move was shortsighted and would create confusion. Originally sued by MIT and Harvard, and many others in short order, the Administration reversed course and rescinded the rule. However, on July 24, ICE stated that new international students cannot come to the country to take online-only coursework.

  A few other issues remain prohibitive for international students, and some campuses are asking international students who have not returned to the U.S. to stay in their home country, and not come to campus, due to roadblocks caused by:

• • Regulatory burdens, based on guidance by ICE
  • State Department suspensions in visa processing 
  • Existing travel restrictions between countries due to the pandemic

• GOP Releases Their Version of New COVID Relief Bill, Immediate Passage Stalled Due to Partisanship, Infighting; Higher Ed Sees Bipartisan Support for Additional Funding, Still Falls Short
  As Congress inches closer to their month-long August recess, and both economic and pandemic crises are growing, both chambers are looking to quickly pass a $1-3 Trillion package for COVID relief. Democrats passed their version of an additional relief package in the House back in May through the HEROES Act, which contained $37B support for higher education. The $3T total cost of the Democratic package and many provisions within it were seen by Senate GOP as a non-starter. The GOP COVID relief bill, released July 27, offered $29B for higher education, with a total price tag of $1T. Some estimates find both of these numbers falling well short of the estimated $120B that would be needed to safely reopen. In recent days, Senate Democrats have mentioned they would like $132B for higher ed.
  
  The Republican relief bill ran into an issue last week with discrepancies between the Senate GOP and the White House, which caused a delay in releasing their legislation. And some GOP representatives are opposed to any additional spending measures, which one Senator has stated will likely cause the GOP-led bill to garner only half the votes of their own Senate Republican caucus.

  So, both bills are unlikely to pass in their current forms, and there will be much sausage making this week in hopes of passing something before August 1. Democrats have said that the liability measures the GOP has inserted into their most recent bill are a nonstarter, however Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell has said inclusion of liability reform is a “red line” for him to allow Senate passage of another bill.

  In terms of the education policies and support in each bill, the parties are also split on how much money should be provided to private schools. The Democratic HEROES Act retains the restriction on allocations supporting online students, while the Republican bill does not include that prerequisite, and also does not require that half of the funding would need to go to students in the form of grants.

  The recent Republican proposal also would remove the inclusion of a blanket temporary relief for student loan repayments which was in the original CARES Act and expires September 30th. It will replace it with a new requirement for those receiving income to “pay at least 10 percent of their discretionary income, excluding costs like food and housing, beginning Oct. 1. However, those who are unemployed would be excused from making payments even after the end of the pandemic”.

  The impetus for an additional relief bill is even more pressing as unemployment benefits and other supports like a federal evictions moratorium expire this week, which has caused the Administration to float the idea of not passing a comprehensive bill, just two days after offering their own, but a short term bill to fix these immediate expirations.

  UPCEA has advocated that higher education institutions and students need additional monetary support, and online students should be counted as part of any allocations. 

• Senator Alexander Releases COVID/Education Bills
  Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, introduced the The Student Loan Repayment and FAFSA Simplification Act July 21, and the Safely Back to School and Back to Work Act on Monday, July 27. The bills are a general framework for what Alexander and Republicans see as their opportunity to change the Higher Education Act this Congress, as well as support COVID relief for the healthcare and education industry. The bills include items like supporting simplification of student loan repayment options from the nine current repayment methods to two: a ten-year mortgage-style payment plan, and an income-based payment plan that limits payments to 10% of discretionary income. It also includes major supports for healthcare including COVID testing, vaccine production, and tweaks to CARES Act provisions. Other education provisions like supporting workforce and short-term training, and supporting scholarships to K-12 private schools, are included. Portions of the bill are seen as Senator Alexander’s hopes for what will be included in a bigger COVID relief package currently under consideration.

OTHER NEWS 

• Guidance for Higher Education Administrators for SARS-CoV-2 Testing (CDC)

• Thompson Coburn releases free Title IX training series for institutions of Higher Education