This Week in Legislation

 

Week of October 24 
 

•       This week, both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are in recess. Lawmakers will return to legislative business on Tuesday, November 14, following the general election.
 

•       Today, all day, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds its Second Annual Conference titled, “The Future of Treasury Market Settlement,” in New York, NY. Session topics include Data Reporting in the U.S. Treasury Market, Clearing and Settlement in Treasury Markets, and Ongoing Evolution of Treasury Market Structure and Liquidity. Speakers include: William Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; The Honorable Mary Jo White, Chair, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; The Honorable Timothy Massad, Chairman, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission; The Honorable Jerome Powell, Member, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve; and Antonio Weiss, Counselor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury. The event will be livestreamed on the Fed’s website. 
 

•       Today at 8:45 a.m., Education Secretary John B. King, Jr. delivers remarks highlighting the progress of America’s 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) at the 2016 National HBCU Week Conference in Arlington, VA. The event is hosted by the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
 

•       Today at 12:30 p.m., the College Board releases its 2016 Trends in College Pricing and Trends in Student Aid reports. The Trends report series provides the latest information on student financial aid, tuition and other expenses associated with attending college, and illustrates trends over time. The reports include details about: published tuition and fee and room and board charges at public and private colleges; variation in tuition and fees across sectors, states and regions; enrollment patterns; types and distribution of student financial aid; and levels of student borrowing.
 

•       On Wednesday through Friday, all day, the College Board hosts its Forum 2016 in Chicago, IL. During the event, attendees will attend sessions titled, “Trends in Higher Education,” “After Expanding Access: Retention and Success Strategies that Work,” “Developing an Income Share Agreement Program at Purdue,” “Net Cost and Student Loans: Understanding the Return on Investment,” “A First Look at How the College Scorecard is Influencing Student Choices,” “Predicting the Future: Early FAFSA and Prior-Prior Year,” and “How Much Debt is Too Much Debt?”

 

•       On Wednesday at 1:00 p.m., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hosts a meeting of the Robocall Strike Force, an industry-led group that has been working to develop comprehensive solutions to present, detect, and filter unwanted robocalls. Tom Wheeler, Chairman, FCC; Mignon Clyburn, Commissioner, FCC; Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner, FCC; Ajit Pai, Commissioner, FCC; Michael O’Rielly, Commissioner, FCC; and Randall Stephenson, Chief Executive Officer, AT&T, and Chair, Robocall Strike Force, will provide remarks.
 

•       On Thursday, all day, the CFPB holds a meeting of its Consumer Advisory Committee to discuss student loan servicing issues, debt collection, and trends and themes regarding student loans. The meeting will feature remarks from Richard Cordray, Director, CFPB; Seth Frotman, Student Loan Ombudsman, and Assistant Director for the Office for Students and Young Consumers, CFPB; John McNamara, Acting Assistant Director for Installment Lending and Collections Markets, CFPB; Judith Fox, Member, Consumer Advisory Board; and Joann Needleman, Member, Consumer Advisory Board. For details or to listen to the live stream of the event, visit the CFPB website.
 

•       On Thursday at 2:00 p.m., the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center holds a webinar to release the Fourth Annual High School Benchmarks Report: National College Progression Rates. The report provides new data on high school graduates’ college access, persistence, and completion outcomes. Afet Dundar, Director, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, will provide details about the research findings and how schools can benchmark their students’ outcomes to those of other schools with similar characteristics and schools that use the Clearinghouse’s StudentTracker for high school service. For details and to register, visit the National Student Clearinghouse website. 

 

•       Friday is the deadline to submit public comments on the U.S. Department of Education’s Application for Borrower Defense to Loan Repayment Form (“Universal Borrower Defense Form”). The form will ensure that all borrowers have a consistent platform to petition for relief, and to facilitate the Department’s receipt of clear and complete information necessary to process applications efficiently. The form will also facilitate processing claims from student borrowers who believe that they have a borrower defense claim regarding their federal student loans, and provide borrowers with an easily accessible and clear method to provide the information necessary for the Department to review and process claim applications efficiently. Comments can be submitted on the U.S.Department of Education’s website. 
 

•       On Friday at 9:30 a.m., Education Secretary John B. King, Jr. delivers remarks at “Connecting the Dots: Cultural Competence, Counseling, and College and Career Readiness of Underserved Youth,” hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Initiative, American University, and the National Consortium for School Counseling and Postsecondary Success.

This information is shared by SASFAA's Legislative Affairs' Committee and NCHER.