A Busy August Recess: What Has Happened While Congress Was Away?

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By Mike Bilfinger, Assistant Director, Public Policy, AACRAO

August is generally a sleepier time in D.C., thanks to Congress being out on recess; however, this August has seen no shortage of significant news stories impacting higher education. Here is a brief overview of some of the major stories from the past two weeks.

Accreditation

Before members left for August recess, the House Education and the Workforce Committee advanced the Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2025 (H.R. 2516), which would prohibit college accreditors from requiring institutions to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion standards. The House previously passed the bill in the 118th Congress as part of the End Woke Higher Education Act; however, the measure did not pass the Senate. The bill is now seeing renewed interest amidst President Trump’s efforts to overhaul college accreditation.

It’s not just the federal government that is seeking to influence accreditors; some accrediting agencies are making changes on their own. For instance, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges is adopting new tools and metrics to gauge student outcomes for the institutions it oversees, with a particular focus on return on investment.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Back in March, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at revamping the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and which employers qualify. Fast forward to August, and the U.S. Department of Education published a new proposed rule for PSLF that would exclude employers who “engaged on or after July 1, 2026, in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose.”

This includes providing health care services to transgender youth, facilitating the violation of federal immigration laws, violating state laws, or engaging in an activity that facilitates illegal discrimination. Public comments can be submitted by September 17, 2025, via the Federal Register.

College Admissions

On the college admissions front, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon made an announcement directing the National Center for Education Statistics to begin collecting more admissions data starting in the 2025-2026 school year to ensure race-based preferences are not being used in college admissions. According to the Department’s website:

As part of their regular data reporting process, institutions of higher education will now have to report data disaggregated by race and sex relating to their applicant pool, admitted cohort, and enrolled cohort at the undergraduate level and for specific graduate and professional programs. This data will include quantitative measures of applicants’ and admitted students’ academic achievements such as standardized test scores, GPAs and other applicant characteristics.

AACRAO is closely monitoring this story as some experts have raised initial concerns about the additional time needed to complete this reporting and ensuring that federal student privacy laws are followed. Public comments can be submitted by October 14, 2025, via the Federal Register.

In other college admissions news, the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy will no longer consider applicants’ race in their admissions processes.

Lastly, three students and a recent graduate are suing a few dozen higher education institutions and organizations, alleging their early-decision admissions policies are tantamount to price collusion because they effectively prevent students from comparing financial aid packages.

In the Courts

In news from the judiciary, multiple federal judges have halted actions taken by the Trump administration targeting DEI. Most notably, federal judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled the Education Department’s SFFA vs. Harvard ‘Dear Colleague’ letter prohibiting institutions from considering race in all aspects of education unlawful due to the process the administration used to enact the ban. In the 76-page decision, Judge Gallagher wrote, “the administration is entitled to express its viewpoints and to promulgate policies aligned with those viewpoints…but it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined.”

In other judiciary news, a federal judge ordered the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to be returned to the “status quo” so it can carry out its congressionally mandated functions. This decision comes after the Trump administration tried to shutter seven of the 12 regional OCR offices and lay off over 1,300 staff across the entire department. Inside Higher Ed has a page tracking the various ongoing lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Federal Appropriations

Back in May, the Trump administration released its fiscal year 2026 budget request, which proposed cutting the Department of Education’s funding by approximately 15%. Before going on recess, Senate appropriators advanced a $197 billion spending bill to fund Labor, Health and Human Services, the Education Department, as well as several other smaller federal agencies.

S. 2587 passed in a 26-3 vote and would see Education Department funding maintained at nearly $79 billion. In doing so, the Senate rejected the President’s request to completely cut TRIO program funding and to reduce the maximum Pell Grant award.

However, the administration is making attempts to cut federal spending in other ways. For instance, the White House Office of Management and Budget has made cuts to academic and cultural exchange programs run by the U.S. Department of State, effectively ending these programs. At least 22 programs are on the list to be removed from funding for fiscal year 2025.

Changes to the U.S. Department of Education

Despite the political complexity of shutting down the Education Department, the Trump administration and its congressional allies remain committed to delivering on the president’s campaign-trail promise. In fact, Chair of the House Education and the Workforce committee, Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), floated the idea of abolishing the agency piece-by-piece rather than in one fell swoop. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) seemed to agree with Rep. Walberg when he said, “people want proof of concept before they vote for a whole shebang, right?”

In the meantime, the Education Department continues to grapple with the significant changes included in the One Big, Beautiful Bill, signed into law on July 4, 2025. A four-hour hearing hosted by the Department highlighted many of the concerns the higher education sector has with the final legislation. From capping federal student loans to creating new loan repayment plans to expanding Pell eligibility to specific short-term programs, public commenters at the hearing argued that lawmakers left serious gaps. For instance, the legislation doesn’t explain:

• What data will be collected for the short-term Pell.

• Who will have to take on that reporting.

• How new requirements could increase administrative burdens for institutions.

All the while, the number of complaints about the Office of Federal Student Aid’s operations is growing, according to the latest survey from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Worryingly, the survey found that 72% of financial aid administrators experienced “noticeable changes” in FSA’s communications since the Education Department had mass layoffs in March.

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