Secretary DeVos dramatically redefined the federal role in education, primarily through deregulation and the rescission of prior policies. More grants management responsibility was delegated to the pass-through agencies, a greater emphasis was placed on funding private school students, and we witnessed a significant reorganization and reduction in personnel at the U.S. Education Department. At the same time, federal education funding has reached unprecedented levels as states, districts and colleges respond to the global pandemic.

The 117th Congress has convened and over the next few months, the Biden Administration will face significant challenges related to education in terms of transitioning to new leadership and the rollout of more than $80 billion in new education stimulus money passed by Congress in late December. There are pressing new issues including how to implement new GEER private school funding in the recently passed stimulus, whether to insist states conduct regular assessments this school year, and how to help both higher education institutions and districts prepare for the fallout from reduced enrollment. Colleges will need to implement significant changes to the financial aid system including the elimination of the term “expected family contribution”, the simplification of the FAFSA, and a dramatic expansion of eligibility for Pell grants.

The changes made by OMB to the Uniform Grant Guidance and the corresponding revisions to EDGAR become effective July 1, 2021 for all state-administered programs. The Education Department’s Cost Allocation Guide has mandated documented time and effort certification systems and indirect cost rates are being negotiated under these new rules. The new 2020 OMB Compliance Supplement and CARES Act addendum has reduced the compliance elements to be audited, resulting in more administrative responsibilities for pass-through entities.

How can administrators effectively digest all these challenges and changes in policy? The BruMan team’s virtual Spring Forum from May 4 to 6 will bring you up to date on all of these topics and help you navigate this fiscal and policy roller coaster.

For the past 30 years the BruMan forum has been the premier professional development opportunity on federal grants management. In addition to the firm’s attorneys, we have invited officials from the Treasury Department, Department of Justice, as well as the offices the Inspector General, Risk Management, Cost Allocation, and Career and Technical Education from the U.S. Education Department.  We will convene a panel of state and local administrators to discuss how they have managed the stimulus funds. Each attendee will receive a copy of the new EDGAR.  We will be limiting attendance to allow the firm’s attorneys to respond to all questions, as we did for the fall forum in December. Since we were unable to accommodate all who wanted to register in the fall, we strongly recommend that you register early.