CONTENTS
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
- House Panel Looks at Rising College Costs and Tax Policy
- House Ways and Means Committee Member Developing Bill on Endowment Spending
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
- House Science Committee Approves Scientific Research in the National Interest Act
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
- Associations Comment on Dear Colleague Letter about Student Medical Records
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
HOUSE PANEL LOOKS AT RISING COLLEGE COSTS AND TAX POLICY
The House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight on October 7 held a hearing to discuss the rising costs of higher education and tax policy. The focus was on factors driving tuition increases, particularly relative to federal student aid, university endowments, executive compensation, and growing institutional administrations. The subcommittee’s goal is to identify ways in which federal tax policies for colleges and universities might be changed to increase affordability.
The witness panel comprised MaryFrances McCourt (on behalf of the National Association of College and University Business Officers), Terry Hartle (American Council on Education), Richard Vedder (Center for College Affordability and Productivity, Ohio University), David Lucca (Federal Reserve Bank of New York), and Brian Galle (Georgetown University Law Center).
The witnesses responded to a series of questions on whether or not universities make sufficient use of their endowments and investment earnings for student aid, the “reasonableness” of university president salaries in light of universities’ nonprofit status, and the ways in which universities benchmark success.
The subcommittee also inquired about the so-called Bennett Hypothesis, which posits that federal financial aid drives up tuition. Hartle noted that a 2014 Congressional Research Service study, which reviewed nine studies investigating the potential causal link between college prices and financial aid, concluded there is no consensus or consistent set of findings on this supposed relationship.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam (R-IL) said that given the complexity of the issues involved in the financing of higher education, the Oversight Subcommittee “has a lot of work to do.”
Ways and Means Committee Member Developing Bill on Endowment Spending
House Ways and Means Committee member Tom Reed (R-NY) said he has a legislative proposal in the offing to mandate a certain percentage payout from university endowment investment income toward student aid. Failure to comply would result in substantial financial and other penalties. He discussed his proposal broadly in a recent newsletter to his constituents.
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
HOUSE SCIENCE COMMITTEE APPROVES SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST ACT
The House Science, Space, and Technology (SST) Committee on October 8 approved the Scientific Research in the National Interest Act (H.R. 3292). The legislation would require the National Science Foundation to include in every public announcement of a grant award a non-technical explanation of the project’s scientific merit and how it would serve the national interest.
The Committee majority issued this statement about the bill; the Committee minority issued this statement.
The measure was approved by voice vote, with no amendments.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
ASSOCIATIONS COMMENT ON DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER ABOUT STUDENT MEDICAL RECORDS
A group of eight higher education associations, including AAU, sent a letter to the Department of Education on October 2 expressing concern about the draft Dear Colleague letter (DCL) the Department sent campuses in August about the handling of student medical records.
The association letter says the DCL goes beyond the “reasonable scope” of reminding colleges and universities about their obligations to protect students’ privacy under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by including standards from the health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
This approach would “result in significant confusion in the handling of education records, with negative consequences for students and campuses,” says the letter. The associations strongly encourage the Department to reconsider inclusion of HIPAA standards in the DCL, adding that if the Department is contemplating changes such as those outlined in the draft DCL, it should do so through a formal regulatory process.