OTC Inside the Beltway: Congress’ Packed Agenda and What It Means for Higher Ed

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's assistant vice president for government relations, to go over all that’s on Congress’ agenda as it returns from winter break, headlined by a Supreme Court vacancy and tensions abroad. The full legislative docket likely means the Build Back Better legislation will be pushed to the backburner, and the group discusses what impact that could have on higher education programs. Justin and Jon also talk about how a potential new rule from the Department of Labor could impact financial aid administrators. Karen then touches on two new pieces of legislation that deal with student loans and the federal Pell Grant and the path forward for those bills before Owen gives an update on a new report looking into the Department of Education’s (ED) plan to restart student loan payments and ED’s higher education priorities for the year ahead.