Administration Rescinds International Student Rule
ADMINISTRATION RESCINDS INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RULE
In response to multiple lawsuits and bipartisan opposition, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement withdrew a proposal on Tuesday that would have required international students whose institutions offer exclusively online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic to leave the U.S. The agency will instead continue to follow their March guidance that permitted significant flexibility for international students while the pandemic continues. Boston University joined a chorus of universities and policymakers celebrating the reversal, while advocating for clarity on how the March guidance will apply to students who are not currently present in the United States.
COMMITTEE PASSES RESEARCH, STUDENT AID INCREASES
While Congress continues to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, the House Appropriations Committee recently started the annual Congressional budget process by passing several spending bills that would increase research and student aid spending over their current levels in fiscal year 2021. The Committee-passed bills would provide:
- National Institutes of Health: $47 billion, a 13% increase
- National Science Foundation: $8.5 billion, a 3.3% increase
- NASA Science: $7.1 billion, a 0.6% decrease
- Department of Defense Basic Research: $2.62 billion, a 0.7% increase
- DARPA: $3.5 billion, a 1.5% increase
- Department of Energy Office of Science: $7.05 billion, a 0.7% increase
- Pell Grants: $6,495 maximum award, a 2.4% increase
- Federal Work Study: $1.2 billion, a 2.5% increase
- National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities: $170 million each, a 4.8% increase
Since the Senate has not begun work on its annual spending bills, it is likely that a continuing resolution to fund federal agencies past the end of the current fiscal year on September 30th will be needed.
BUZZ BITS…
- On Wednesday, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) called on the U.S. Treasury Department to reject President Donald J. Trump’s “unlawful” proposal to take away the tax-exempt status of universities and schools the President believes engage in “Radical Left Indoctrination.”
- On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) designated Michael Kratsios as the acting DOD undersecretary for research and engineering. Mr. Kratsios is currently the chief technology officer of the United States, and previously worked in Silicon Valley.
- The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced last week that Kenneth Marcus, the leader of ED’s Office of Civil Rights, will depart at the end of July. Mr. Marcus led the agency’s overhaul of campus sexual misconduct rules and changes to the Department’s definition of anti-Semitism. Kimberly Richey will oversee the Office in an interim capacity.