Federal Negotiations to Implement Provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Unofficially Announced by the U.S. Department of Education
Overview
As CSPEN noted the community to be on the lookout for with attendees at the Mid-Atlantic Association of Colleges and Schools Annual Conference last Thursday, today, today, the U.S. Department of Education “unofficially” released (public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-13998.pdf?utm_campaign=pi+subscription+mailing+list&utm_medium=email&utm_source=federalregister.gov) a sixteen-page copy of a notice submitted to the Federal Register for publication announcing their intent to hold two Federal Negotiated Rulemaking sessions later this year.
As detailed in the notice, “the rulemaking is necessary to implement recent statutory changes to the Title IV, HEA programs included in Pub. L. 119 21, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that President Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, as well as to implement other Administration priorities.” The publication goes on to share the timeline for a single public hearing in advance of the negotiations, the groups of constituencies to participate in the negotiations and requests for nominations, and the dates for negotiations to take place on a series of topics to be negotiated by the “Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee” and the “Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee.”
Here is a brief summary of the key details of the publication.
Virtual Public Hearing
We will hold a virtual public hearing on August 7, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a one-hour recess from noon to 1:00 p.m. for interested parties to provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the changes to the Title IV, HEA programs enacted in Pub. L. 119-21, as well to implement other Administration priorities.
RISE Committee Issues & Negotiation Dates
This Committee will consider changes to the Federal student loan programs.
The Committee will meet in-person for two multi-day sessions on the following dates:
Session 1: September 29, September 30, October 1, October 2, and October 3, 2025.
Session 2: November 3, November 4, November 5, November 6, and November 7, 2025.
AHEAD Committee Issues & Negotiation Dates
This Committee will consider changes to institutional and programmatic accountability, the Pell Grant Program, and other changes to the Title IV, HEA programs.
The Committee will meet in-person for two multi-day sessions on the following dates:
Session 1: December 8, December 9, December 10, December 11, and December 12, 2025.
Session 2: January 5, January 6, January 7, January 8, and January 9, 2026.
What’s Next
CSPEN was already preparing for this anticipated announcement and begun discussions with the community on interpretation of all the higher education provisions in the OBBBA. We will continue those discussions and now also focus on reaching out within our community and beyond to seek out individuals from the constituencies noted in the announcement to partner with and submit as non-federal negotiators to participate as primary negotiators at these vitally important negotiations.
We will also share more information with the higher education community and seek your comments, concerns, and feedback in advance of the August 7th public hearing!
Look for more from CSPEN next week and in the weeks and months to come, but we wanted to make you aware of this important information immediately.
