The U.S. House Appropriations Committee on Wednesdayreleased a draft funding bill that would block implementation of federal gainful employment rules and would not back the U.S. Senate’s attempt to restore year-round Pell Grant eligibility. The bill also includes $33.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health, which is $1.25 billion above this fiscal year’s funding level.
The Obama administration’s attempt to regulate vocational programs at colleges based on their graduates’ labor-market standards went into effect last year. They apply to for-profit institutions and nondegree programs at community colleges and other nonprofit institutions. The draft House bill would prevent any of the proposed $162 billion for labor, health and human services from being used to “implement, administer or enforce” the final regulations.
Likewise, the bill does not include funding for year-round Pell, which would allow students to use the grants during summer sessions. Congress and the White House backed the elimination of that eligibility in 2011. The House proposal also would cut $1.3 billion from the Pell program, which has a roughly $7.8 billion surplus.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/07/07/us-house-bill-would-nix-year-round-pell-grants
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