Education Policy

Reflecting on the Supreme Court’s Decision on Affirmative Action

IECA 17 Comments

The Supreme Court has just announced its long-anticipated ruling restricting the use of affirmative action in higher education admission. This decision has garnered significant attention and ignited passionate discussions across the nation. While many will have strong emotions and opinions surrounding this topic, I urge you all to be contemplative as we await the full implications, including insights from colleges who have been planning for this result. We can productively channel our energies and our work into encouraging colleges and universities to develop innovative new strategies to assure their campuses are diverse, reflective of the nation, and welcoming to all.

Affirmative action has long been a contentious issue, provoking a range of reactions from different individuals and communities. Some view it as a necessary tool to address historical inequalities and promote diversity, while others see it as an infringement upon merit-based principles. Regardless of your personal stance, we can all agree that as higher education institutions play a vital role in shaping the future of our society,  it is crucial to ensure that their admissions processes are fair, inclusive, diverse and effective. These principles speak to IECA’s guiding principles.

With the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action in admission, it presents an opportunity for colleges and universities to reevaluate their admission practices and develop new game plans that align with the changing legal landscape. IECA and all of our members can actively engage in meaningful conversations and encourage institutions to explore alternative approaches that promote diversity, equity, and excellence simultaneously.

The post-affirmative action era could witness the emergence of creative and dynamic solutions aimed at fostering inclusivity while maintaining high academic standards. Universities may consider implementing socio-economic factors, holistic evaluations, or tailored outreach programs to ensure equal opportunities for all students, regardless of their background or ethnicity. By urging institutions to proactively embrace change, we can help shape a future in which diversity and merit coexist harmoniously.

It is important to remember that progress often emerges from challenges and adversity. Instead of allowing anger or resentment to consume us, let us channel our energies into supporting our colleges and universities as they navigate the evolving landscape. Engaging in constructive dialogue, advocating for transparency, and demanding accountability will be vital as we collectively work towards creating a higher education system that is fair, inclusive, and accessible to all.

In the coming weeks and months, IECA will explore avenues for such dialogue and innovation at conferences, in webinars, in Insights, and beyond. IECA’s Government Relations Committee has established a task force to study the Supreme Court’s action and colleges’ responses. Together as leading voices representing our clients and their families, we can pave the way for a brighter and more inclusive future in higher education.

Together, let’s champion progress, embrace diversity in all its forms, and promote constructive dialogue.

Education Policy

Post-Election Update: What to Expect from the New Biden Administration

IECA Leave a comment

By IECA’s Lobbyists/Government Relations Team of Brian Finch and Craig Saperstein, Pillsbury Law and Public Policy; and the IECA Government Relations Committee

With the November 2020 general election nearly concluded, the Biden-Harris transition team is beginning its initial tasks of identifying individuals for key agency positions, and setting the groundwork to implement the new Administration’s major policy initiatives. The Biden Transition Team has begun formal coordination with current agency officials, and now has access to direct government funding for the transition. Given President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign promises and stated policy goals, there may be substantive developments in the higher education space within the first few months of the Biden presidency of which independent educational consultants should be aware.

Top Biden Policy Goals

Whether by executive order or through legislation, President-elect Biden has already indicated that he hopes to address student debt within the first 100 days of his presidency. Although no specifics have been revealed by the Biden team, potential relief may include a specific amount of debt forgiveness for undergraduate loans (rumored to be ranging anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000, with income-based caps), an extension of the COVID-19 forbearance period, and reduced federal interest rates on future federal loans.

Another priority for the Biden Administration will be reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA), which establishes federal student aid programs and governs most federal money going to colleges and universities in the United States. The HEA is designed to be reauthorized and updated every 5 years. However, the most recent update has not occurred since 2008. House Democrats introduced a bill, known as the College Affordability Act, to reauthorize the HEA in the current session of Congress, but action on HEA reauthorization is not likely to occur until the next session of Congress.

Beyond these initial objectives, the Biden team made education reform a key priority throughout the presidential campaign. Specific to higher education, the Biden campaign promised to invest in educational pathways programs in high schools, including investing in school vocational training programs, building partnerships between high schools, community colleges and employers to allow students programs to earn industry credentials while in high school. The Biden team has also promised to allow Pell grants to be used for dual enrollment programs, allowing high school students to take classes at community colleges for college credit.

Stakeholder groups have also been using this transition period to identify specific Trump Administration directives that the incoming Biden Administration should address. This week, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the American Council on Education (ACE) both sent their policy priorities and recommendations to the Biden transition team. Their recommendations include reversing Trump Administration limits on H-1B visas that have limited international student enrollment in colleges, ending the Trump executive order limiting diversity and critical race theory trainings, and ending certain “unnecessarily adversarial” investigations by Department of Education into admissions practices. While the Biden team has not responded to these requests, these two influential higher education lobbying organizations and may help shape the initial Biden Administration policy goals.

Department of Education

Recently, the Biden-Harris transition team named its Agency Review Team for the Department of Education. The Review Team is led by Linda Darling-Hammond of the Learning Policy Institute, who previously served in the same role in 2008 for the Obama-Biden transition. Other Review Team members include the head of the Institute for College Access and Success, the postsecondary education leader at the Center for American Progress, a senior administrator at Howard University, the policy director for the Alliance for Excellent Education and numerous stakeholders from the primary and secondary education worlds. These volunteers are responsible for reviewing and understanding the operations of the Department of Education, coordinating the transition of power, and preparing President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris and incoming Administration leaders to implement key policy priorities.

As part of the COVID-19 relief measures, federal student loan payments had been suspended through the end of 2020. The Biden – Harris administration had signaled a desire to extend student loan relief in some way. Recently the Trump administration announced that student loan relief for 41 million Americans who have benefited from a freeze on monthly payments will now have this relief extended to January 31, 2021.

While President-elect Biden has started naming his picks for top Administration positions, he has not yet indicated his choice for Secretary of Education. While campaigning in 2019, Biden promised to pick a teacher for the position, but left it unclear whether this only meant a K-12 teacher, or whether he would also consider a post-secondary educator. Potential rumored candidates for the position include Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers; Lily Eskelsen García, the former president of the National Education Association; Baltimore City Schools CEO Sonja Santelises; Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson; and Philadelphia superintendent William Hite.

Regardless of who is ultimately named as Secretary of Education, the largest priorities will remain the same: increasing federal funding for schools to address the COVID-19 impacts, restoring Obama Administration civil rights guidance in schools, rolling back many of the Trump Administration and Secretary DeVos positions and directives and restoring funding cut over the past 4 years.

Potential Washington Gridlock

Despite the many Biden team objectives and promises, the viability of many higher education reform proposals will largely depend on the outcome of the January 5th Senate runoff elections in Georgia. The results of these two races will determine political control of the Senate. Victories by the Democratic candidates, Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, would give Democrats 50 seats in the Senate, along with the tiebreaking vote by Vice President Harris. If Republicans are able to win either seat, they will maintain control in the Senate. A divided Congress, with a Republican-controlled Senate and a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, would be far less likely to enact any sweeping changes to federal higher education policies than if Democrats have unified control of Congress and the Presidency. While some of Biden’s policy objectives can be accomplished by executive order, and through Department of Education initiatives, control of the Senate will be critical to the success of the Biden Administration’s legislative goals.  Without such control, there is a distinct possibility that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will not even permit a vote on legislation he or the majority of the Senate Republican Caucus opposes.  Democratic control of the Senate will permit the party to set the committee and floor agenda, though even having a majority is not a panacea; bipartisan support for higher education reform legislation will likely be necessary regardless of which party controls the Senate, given that Senate rules dictate that a 60-vote majority is needed to pass the vast majority of legislation.