CONAHEC News and Information

Higher Education Asks Congress For More Relief Money
Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2021

When the pandemic swept the nation last year, it all kinds of industries and sectors, closing restaurants and forcing many workers to work from home. But the effect on higher education was a unique disruption, and it came at a cost. Now, institutions of higher education are asking for more money in the next Covid relief package.

Colleges and universities were forced to rapidly shift instruction online last spring and residential colleges had to close their residence halls, leaving many students scrambling to leave campus in the middle of the semester. 

Clearing the path to higher education for those in need
Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2021

One of President Biden’s first acts in office was to request the Department of Education to extend the pause on student loan payments through September. Many are urging Biden to go further by issuing an executive order canceling $50,000 from all student loan borrowers’ debt. The Biden administration has proposed several other initiatives to make higher education more affordable, including forgiving up to $10,000 in student debt and providing free undergraduate education to anyone whose family earns less than $125,000 per year.

The Pandemic Will Obliterate The Traditional Academic Calendar. And It Can’t Happen Fast Enough.
Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2021

Everyone has been pontificating about the various temporary and lasting impacts of Covid-19 on education. It has undoubtedly accelerated the adoption of online and hybrid learning, exacerbated equity and access issues and exposed the financial fragility of many education institutions. But there’s one change that few are talking about and it very well may be the biggest and most positive change of all precipitated by Covid: the obliteration of the traditional academic calendar. 

University of Arizona begins administering COVID-19 vaccinations
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

Pima County has begun administering Phase 1B vaccinations and starting this week the University of Arizona will be the designated distribution point for the Phase 1B priority subpopulation of teachers and child care workers, including K-12 and higher education teachers and staff, as well as student teachers.

The Higher Education Origins Of The Biden Administration
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

Higher education issues like student loan forgiveness, campus sexual assault policies, and pandemic financial relief promise to be prominent early policy deliberations in the Biden Administration. Attitudes no doubt in part will be influenced by the university experiences of the senior leadership: President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the 20 cabinet members. What sort of higher education background does the Biden-Harris team have?

Minnesota confirms Brazil coronavirus variant case, first in US
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

Minnesota health officials on Monday announced the country’s first documented case of a coronavirus variant initially detected in Brazil.

The variant, known as P.1, was confirmed in a Twin Cities metro area resident who had recent travel history to Brazil. The unnamed patient was ill in the first week of January after returning from Brazil, and the sample was collected on Jan. 9, officials said.

Case investigators advised the patient to self-isolate, and have household contacts enter quarantine.

Everyday activities are more dangerous now that new Covid-19 variants are circulating, expert says
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

Health officials are "extremely" worried about the new Covid-19 variants that have been detected in the US and what they could mean over the coming months, one expert said Monday night. 

"We've seen what happens in other countries that have actually had coronavirus under relatively good control, then these variants took over and they had explosive spread of the virus, and then overwhelmed hospitals," emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

How higher education might change in 2021
Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021

After decades of incremental change and gradual shifts, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the higher education industry into a period of rapid transformation. Colleges and universities spent the better part of 2020 adapting to remote learning, with some more prepared than others, and few fully equipped to handle the numerous impacts of an abrupt and total shift to distanced education.

Here’s How Biden’s Plan To Pause Student Loans Works
Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021

President Joe Biden paused student loan payments for eight months. This is how it works.

Here’s what you need to know—and what it means for your student loans.

Student Loans

On his first day as president, January 20, 2021, Biden paused federal student loan payments through September 30, 2021. What does this mean for your student loans? How does it work? Let’s answer the most popular questions about this student loan relief:

1. Which student loans are included?

Biden signs executive actions on COVID, climate change, immigration and more
Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed more than a dozen executive actions, some of which reverse decisions made by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.

Several executive actions will make changes to the U.S. response to COVID-19 and try to ease some of the financial strain on Americans resulting from the pandemic. Other executive actions directly target and undo Mr. Trump's actions on the environment, immigration, the U.S. census, and regulatory changes.

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