U.S. Department of Education

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack listens to students’ presentation about their Agricultural Mobile Education Unit after an event at Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, an 1890 land-grant institution, on Feb. 14, 2023. (USDA photo by Christophe Paul)

States urged by Biden administration to rectify underfunding of land-grant HBCUs

BY: - September 20, 2023

States engaged in decades of underfunding of land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities, leading to a more than $12 billion disparity with comparable white institutions, leaders of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday. “Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities […]

A student loan application. Getty Images.

Millions enrolled in new student loan repayment program

BY: - September 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — More than 4 million federal student loan borrowers are enrolled in the Biden administration’s new repayment program, according to figures released Tuesday by the Department of Education. This includes 181,400 Ohioans. With the pause of more than three years on federal student loan repayments coming to an end in October, and the Supreme […]

A student loan application. Getty Images.

Here’s what to know about new federal policies for repaying student loans

BY: - August 23, 2023

WASHINGTON — Following the Supreme Court’s summer ruling against 40 million federal student loan borrowers who would have qualified for debt relief, the Biden administration crafted a year-long delay in repayments. The policy, known as an on-ramp, is set to begin next month. Additionally, hours after the Supreme Court’s decision, the Department of Education unveiled […]

Aerial over the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the spring. (Ryan Herron/Getty Images)

Biden administration provides guidance on diversity in college admissions

BY: - August 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice and Department of Education jointly released guidance on Monday to colleges and universities about how to consider race in admissions decisions, following the Supreme Court’s summer decision that struck down affirmative action in higher education. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, on a call with reporters, said higher education institutions can continue to participate in […]

U.S. House GOP questions education secretary on transgender athletes, student loans

BY: - May 18, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Tuesday grilled the secretary of education about student debt cancellation and protections for transgender student athletes during a lengthy hearing on the president’s proposed budget request for the Department of Education. While the subject of the five-hour House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing was the fiscal 2024 budget […]

Ohio AG Dave Yost asks U.S. Dept. of Education not to rescind part of religious rule

BY: - March 28, 2023

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Education sent last week asking to keep a rule from the Trump administration requiring public universities to uphold the First Amendment when it comes to religious groups on campuses.  The current rule, which the federal education department is trying to get rid […]

A watchdog says the feds aren’t doing enough to investigate problem colleges

BY: - January 23, 2023

WASHINGTON — Incomplete written guidelines and penalties that had not been updated since 2016. Significant turnover and reductions among staff. Changing agency priorities and department probes put “on hold.” Over the past six years, these problems have stifled the U.S. Department of Education’s investigations team that is supposed to probe colleges that misrepresent themselves to […]

A student loan application. Getty Images.

New federal student loan repayment plan aimed at low-income borrowers

BY: - January 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would overhaul a federal student loan income-driven repayment plan, and, if implemented, could help millions of low-income borrowers. However, it’s unclear how the agency would be able to finance the program. Many student debt relief advocates also criticized the proposal for leaving out […]

U.S. education secretary urges boost in teacher pay, touts college debt relief

BY: - September 8, 2022

WASHINGTON — Amid K-12 teacher shortages, book bans and attacks over critical race theory, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona at a meeting with reporters on Wednesday stressed the need for higher salaries to attract prospective educators to the profession. Cardona also touted the Biden administration’s recent student debt relief announcement in late August. The White House said President Joe Biden […]

Ohio Governor joins 17 other governors in fighting federal charter school limits

BY: - April 22, 2022

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is standing with nearly two dozen other governors in fighting against a proposed federal rule limiting charter school creation. The new rule would be a change to the U.S. Department of Education Charter School Program, and would require charters to prove that a school district they want to join is “over-enrolled” […]

Candidate for Ohio governor pushes summer school to account for COVID learning loss

BY: - April 12, 2022

One gubernatorial candidate is saying the state should push for voluntary summer school to account for losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley and his running mate, state Sen. Theresa Fedor, D-Toledo, told reporters on Monday that the state has a “moral obligation” to pay for students to hit the books this […]

Pause on federal student loan repayments extended by Biden through Aug. 31

BY: - April 7, 2022

The Biden administration Wednesday announced its plans to extend the pause on federal student loan repayments until the end of August. “I recognized in recently extending the COVID-19 national emergency, we are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.  “If loan payments were to […]