At the beginning of the pandemic, many adjustments were made by the Biden administration to pivot with higher education woes. Various flexibilities with unused Federal Work Study (FWS) and other government aid helped a number of colleges and universities preserve their students focused on completing their degrees. These changes were possible due to the emergency power authority which was justified, but these will come to a close starting May 11th.
Those various Title IV COVID-19 flexibilities and waivers do not all end at the same time. For instance some flexibilities, like withdrawals and transfers of unused Federal Work-Study (FWS) to the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) program, end at the end of the payment period that contains May 11. Some flexibilities, like verification, end at the end of the payment period that begins after the payment period that contains May 11. Other flexibilities, like the community service waiver, end at the end of the 2023-24 award year.
Additional details and timelines are provided in a chart, provided by Federal Student Aid, which is also available under Resources in the AskRegs Knowledgebase.
The announcement came soon after the release of new legislation from House Republicans that would immediately revoke the president’s authority to continue to offer extensions of the emergency declaration, which the White House argues is too sudden.
“An abrupt end to the emergency declarations would create wide-ranging chaos and uncertainty throughout the health care system — for states, for hospitals and doctors’ offices, and, most importantly, for tens of millions of Americans,” the administration wrote in response to the House’s legislation.
Per the White House’s guidance, the administration will implement a final extension of the emergency declarations, which need to be issued in the coming weeks, and formally end those declarations on May 11.
According to the administration, the end of the emergency declarations would not prohibit the Department of Education (ED) from carrying out its debt cancellation plans or its planned sunset of the ongoing federal student loan payment pause, since the relief is tied to when the emergency declaration was in effect.
Source:
Biden to End Pandemic’s Emergency Declaration on May 11. Here’s What It Means for Financial Aid