The AAMC Feb. 23 submitted a letter to Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Chair Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) providing input on the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The Senate HELP committee Feb. 13 put out a call for comments or suggestions for the committee’s consideration.
The letter from the AAMC requests that the committee include policies that “work to strengthen the nation’s future physician workforce and support graduate and professional students,” and highlights the importance of GradPLUS loans, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), and Federal Work Study, among other the programs.
In addition to submitting a letter on behalf of medical schools and teaching hospitals, the AAMC joined a letter to Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray, signed by 48 higher education associations, in support of broad goals for reauthorization. Additionally, the AAMC joined a letter to Senate lawmakers in support of PSLF, reiterating our ask “to maintain the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) in its current form.”
The Senate HELP Committee held five hearings on HEA and committee leadership released separate documents laying out priorities for potential reauthorization [See Washington Highlights, Feb. 9].
Although the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved a bill in December [See Washington Highlights, Dec. 15], further House action is still pending.