GW Weekly Federal Update (November 20)

GW Updates

• In response to interest from faculty, the university is reminding the GW community about the DeleteMe service for those who may be concerned about their digital footprint. GW has partnered with DeleteMe to offer students, faculty, and staff access to data removal resources to mitigate any risk from exposed personal information free of charge. GW's DeleteMe Diamond Plan ensures all personal information, such as addresses and contact information, are removed from data broker websites. DeleteMe does not remove social media content, news articles, or personal websites—only data that is being sold or shared without consent. DeleteMe performs continuous monthly scans, opt-out requests, and removals. Users also can request up to 25 custom data removals annually, managed by privacy advisors. Set up an account by clicking here.

Recent Federal Actions

Department of Education

• On November 18, the Trump administration announced a major restructuring effort that furthers its dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education by shifting several key functions to other federal agencies. Under the plan, the Department of Labor will assume responsibility for major K-12 and postsecondary programs, including Title I and Title II, and administer institutional grant programs such as TRIO, which supports low-income and first-generation students and provides important benefits to students at universities, including GW. Additional programs will move to the Departments of Interior, Health and Human Services, and State, covering Indian education programs, on-campus childcare grants, foreign medical school accreditation, and international education initiatives. While the administration described the changes as an effort to streamline federal operations, congressional critics and employee groups warned that the moves may exceed executive authority and could weaken essential education services. Federal student aid and civil rights enforcement were not included in the current effort, although officials said that further changes are still under review.
   
• ED’s Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee recently reached consensus on how to define professional and graduate programs under new student loan limits that cap borrowing at $100,000 for graduate programs and $200,000 for professional programs.
  
  The Department’s proposal limits professional degrees to roughly those requiring at least six years of postsecondary education, two years of post-baccalaureate coursework, professional licensure, and a four-digit Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code that falls within a specific set of fields: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology, and clinical psychology. By tying eligibility to these narrowly defined disciplines the rule excludes other advanced, high-cost fields such as nursing, engineering, architecture, and public health. 
  
  This limitation would significantly affect graduate students at universities such as GW, many of whom pursue degrees in these disciplines and rely on federal loans to complete their studies. GW is working with higher education associations to advocate for a more flexible definition that accounts for evolving workforce and national competitiveness.

Congress

• Following the enactment of the continuing resolution to reopen the government, the Senate is preparing to take up the FY26 Defense spending bill and may attempt to combine it with several additional appropriations bills, including Labor-HHS-Education and Commerce-Justice-Science, to form a broad funding package. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has signaled interest in advancing this group of bills together later this week, though the plan faces strong bipartisan objections. At the same time, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole has indicated that House and Senate subcommittee leaders will soon begin negotiating the remaining FY26 spending measures. These measures contain funding for major research and education priorities that align with GW’s operations, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, NASA Science, and Department of Defense basic research.

Updates Related to Other Universities

• University of Virginia: On November 12, Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger asked the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors to pause its ongoing presidential search until she takes office in January and appoints new board members. Spanberger said recent scrutiny of the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and the federal investigations that preceded President James Ryan’s resignation have raised concerns about the board’s credibility and the legitimacy of the search process. Governor Glenn Youngkin rejected the request, defending the board’s actions and urging it to continue its work. University officials have not indicated whether the search will pause. The exchange comes amid broader political debate in Virginia over university governance, board appointments, and the role of state leadership in higher education oversight.
   
• University of California: In the September 26 edition of the GW Federal Weekly Update we reported that the U.S. District Court in California ordered NIH, the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor to restore, at least on a temporary basis, an additional $500 million in suspended federal funding, concluding that the indefinite suspensions of grants was “likely arbitrary,” “capricious” and a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. On November 14, the same court issued a preliminary injunction requiring all federal agencies to end their “blanket policy of denying any future grants” to UCLA.

Resources and Reminders

About this Newsletter

GW publishes this weekly Federal Update to inform students, faculty and staff about how developments in the federal government affect higher education generally and the University. This newsletter includes timely information, answers to questions from GW community members, and resources for support.