Welcome to the Universities of Wisconsin Government Relations Newsletter. The Office of Government Relations provides legislative and political updates that impact the Universities of Wisconsin at the state and federal level.
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State Relations
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Federal Relations
Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand- Driven Workforce Pell: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability
On July 1, 2026, the Department of Education published the final Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand- Driven Workforce Pell: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability rule.
At the time of the announcement, Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent, said, “The Trump Administration is hitting the hard reset button on higher education and implementing commonsense reforms that will drive down the cost of higher education and hold all institutions, regardless of sector, accountable for low earnings outcomes. If a program cannot show that it leaves its graduates financially better off than if they had never enrolled, it should not be underwritten by federal taxpayers. Amid rising rates of default and delinquency in the $1.7 trillion federal student loan portfolio, this new accountability framework is a responsible policy that will safeguard American taxpayer dollars and protect students from taking on unmanageable debt for programs that cannot demonstrate a reasonable return on investment.”
For more from the Department, including changes from the NPRM, you can review the Department's press release and summary document.
Full House and Senate Hearing Schedule
If interested, you can see a full list of upcoming hearings on the Senate Hearings & Meetings Page. A review of the committee hearings in the House of Representatives is available via the Committee Schedule within the House of Representatives Legislative Activity section on the Chamber’s main page.
House and Senate Floor Schedules
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are in scheduled district and state work periods this week. As each chamber returns to Washington in the coming weeks, the expected schedule of votes for the House of Representatives and the Senate can be found on the preceding websites.
Note: Links to external sites are provided for informational purposes and not meant to convey an endorsement of the Universities of Wisconsin.