More FY 26 Presidential Budget Request Details Released

This afternoon, the Trump Administration released additional FY 26 budget request details. The Administration proposes to combine multiple HHS agencies, including the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and some programs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), into a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).

The budget proposal calls for elimination of a number of programs, to “align investments with the Administration’s priorities, streamline the bureaucracy, reset the proper balance between federal and state responsibilities, and save taxpayer funds.” This includes the proposed elimination of, previosuly within HRSA, “15 workforce programs including some Nursing workforce programs and Medical Student Education.”

In regards to behavioral health, “The budget also invests $129 million in Behavioral Health Workforce Development Programs, including Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program, the Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program, and the Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan Repayment Program. These programs train and place behavioral health providers in underserved communities. It expands the workforce, integrates behavioral health into primary care, and addresses the shortage of providers, particularly in rural areas where behavioral health services are often provided by primary care providers.”

Yesterday, Russ Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said the full budget proposal would be released after the budget reconciliation package has passed Congress.

The HHS FY 26 Budget in Brief may be accessed here, with other details here. The education budget summary and background information may be accessed here. TheFY 26 budget request appendix is here.

Congressional Budget Hearings for the Department of Education Announced

Two more congressional budget hearings on FY 26 budget for the Department of Education have been announced. On Tuesday, June 3, at 10am Eastern, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Labor-HHS Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the FY 26 budget request for the Department of Education, with testimony from Secretary of Education Linda McMahon . The hearing may be viewed live here.

On Wednesday, June 4, at 10:15am Eastern, the House Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a hearing on the FY 26 budget request for the Department of Education, with testimony from Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. The hearing may be viewed live here.

On May 21, the House Appropriation Committee’s Labor-HHS Subcommittee held a hearing on the FY 26 budget request for the Department of Education. Our memo on that hearing may be accessed here.

Department of Defense to Cap Indirect Research Cost Rates

A Department of Defense memo signed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth calls for the Department to implement a 15 percent indirect cost cap on awards to institutions of higher education. The Trump Administration is the fourth federal agency, after NIH, the Department of Energy, and NSF, that has enacted a plan to cap indirect cost rates at 15 percent, though the NSF plan is currently paused and the NIH and DOE plans have been blocked by federal judges.

Coverage from Inside Higher Ed is here. The May 14 Department of Defense memo is here.

Congressional Budget Hearings for the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services

On Wednesday, May 21 at 10am Eastern, the House Appropriation Committee’s Labor-HHS Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the FY 26 budget request for the Department of Education. The hearing will be livestreamed here.

On Tuesday, May 20, at 10am Eastern, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Labor-HHS Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the FY 26 budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services. The hearing will be livestreamed here.

On Wednesday, May 14, at 9:30am Eastern, the House Appropriations Committee’s Labor-HHS Subcommittee held a hearing on the FY 26 budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services. The hearing was livestreamed here.

Department of Education Title IV Negotiated Rulemaking 

The Department of Education has announced its intention to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee to prepare prosed regulations for the Federal Student Aid programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The Student Loans and Affordability Committee will address the following topics: 1. Refining definitions of a qualifying employer for the purposes of determining eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. 2. Revisiting family size, restructuring repayment plan provisions, including the alternative repayment plan, and certain other provisions of the July, 10, 2023 rule. The department is accepting nominations for negotiators, and the Committee will meet on June 30 to July 2. More details are here.

ASAHP 2025 Mentorship Program: Call for Mentees and Mentors

2025 ASAHP Mentorship Program

Deadline: June 3, 2025

We are pleased to open our 2024 Call for Mentors and Mentees application process. This will be the fifth year of the mentorship program. If you are interested in being a mentor or mentee, please submit fill out the respective applications by Tuesday, June 2. The official mentor/mentee program will be for one year. Contact Kristen Truong at kristen@asahp.org if you have any questions.
 

Call for Mentors

We are looking for experienced deans and senior administrators who each would be willing to serve as a 1:1 peer coach/mentor for
1) individuals in the role of Associate/Assistant Dean/Faculty positions at their institutions as they prepare to seek promotion opportunities, and
2) new Deans who would like to engage in coaching and/or mentorship to facilitate success in their new role.

Apply to be a Mentor

 

Call for Mentees

The mentee program is targeted at individuals who would like to engage in coaching and/or mentorship to facilitate their success in health professions administration in higher education. The call for mentees is open to all ASAHP members, regardless of academic rank.

Apply to be a Mentee

Executive Order Targets In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students

On Monday, April 28, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled, Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens. The Executive Order states that, “the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and appropriate agency heads, shall identify and take appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State and local laws, regulations, policies, and practices favoring aliens over any groups of American citizens that are unlawful, preempted by Federal law, or otherwise unenforceable, including State laws that provide in-State higher education tuition to aliens but not to out-of-State American citizens that may violate 8 U.S.C. 1623 or that favor aliens in criminal charges or sentencing.”

The Executive Order may be accessed here. An article from Inside Higher Ed on the EO may be accessed here.

President’s FY 26 Budget Request Released

On Friday, the White House released the President’s FY 26 Discretionary Budget Request, the budget blueprint for the fiscal year that begins October 1, 2025. The budget requests a reduction of roughly $163 billion (22.6 percent) for domestic programs, while Defense would see a $119 billion (13.4 percent) increase, coming entirely through the reconciliation bill that Republicans are currently drafting.

A more detailed budget request outlining program by program funding levels, is expected to be released by the end of the month, but the skinny budget provides the overall parameters to the Administration’s budget proposal including a 15% cut to the Department of Education, and a a 26% cut to HHS.

The budget seeks $93.8 billion for HHS, a cut of about $33 billion over the FY 25 enacted level. The budget proposes the consolidation of several programs formerly administered by HRSA, representing a funding decrease of $1.732 billion. This includes a proposed $1 billion cut to health workforce programs, which includes the Title VII and Title VIII programs, targeting programs that provide scholarship and support for individuals to enter health professional careers. A FY 2026 OMB Budget Passback memo, which was labeled “pre-decisional,” referenced creation of a new Administration for Healthy America (AHA), which would combine HRSA with several other HHS agencies. 

While ED’s budget includes a $12 billion (15%) total cut, it eliminates funding for TRIO and Gear Up, and calls for a $980 million reduction in funding for Federal Work-Study.

This is only a proposal and must be approved by Congress and the full extent of the proposed cuts to individual programs is difficult to ascertain through the broad lens of a skinny budget. However, the total scope of the cuts is unprecedented and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME), who has already raised “serious objections” to components of the President's proposal. A 60 vote supermajority is needed to move appropriations bills through the Senate, and Democrats are already firmly aligned against the President’s proposal. A statement from Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) is here.

The President’s FY 26 Discretionary Budget Request may be accessed here. A one-page table with discretionary requests by agency is here.

Department of Education Issues Guidance on Changes to the Approval Process for Changing Accrediting Agencies

Yesterday, the Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter which issues guidance on changes to the approval process for changing accrediting agencies. The Dear Colleague Letter follows last week’s Executive Order on accreditation.

The Dear Colleague Letter may be accessed here and a Department of Education press release is here.

ASAHP’s 2025 Regional Summit Brings Academic Institutions and Health Care Industry Partners together to Collaborate on Improving Health Outcomes

Washington, D.C. - The Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) announced today that its fifth annual Regional Summit will take place across the country on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. The theme of the 2025 Summit, Collaboration in Action - Engaging to Build Readiness for Interprofessional Clinical Practice seeks to identify new strategies for collaboration between the healthcare industry and academic partners. ASAHP’s Regional Summit brings together academic leaders, faculty and health care providers from a variety of professional roles, disciplines, and organizations to share knowledge and best practices with the goal of improving the patient care experience and health outcomes as well as addressing clinician well-being, and health equity.

Held in-person concurrently at five member institution-hosted regional “Hub” locations, the Summits culminate in a virtual “Harvest” session between all regional Hub participants. The Harvest session allows for an engaging national-level conversation aimed at creating a shared framework and specific strategies for improving interprofessional learning experiences, ultimately with the goal of providing better patient outcomes. 

“As our member institutions work to prepare the next generation of healthcare professionals, it’s vital that educators collaborate with practitioners to adapt to industry changes and the growing industry needs,” said said ASAHP President Dr. Craig R. Jackson, MSW, JD, FASAHP, Dean of the School of Allied Health Professions at Loma Linda University. “By putting these two groups in the same room, we are able to identify real-time collaborative opportunities to help solve health care challenges. In past years, these Regional Summits have helped forge new partnerships and identify needed curriculum adjustments to help improve the future of clinical education.”

Dr. Anthony Breitbach, Director of Interprofessional Education at Saint Louis University who spearheaded the Regional Summits initiative added, “ASAHP's institutional membership model gives us the unique opportunity to create academic-industry connections at the local level. Then, combined with the innovative ‘ASAHP Collaborative Stakeholder Engagement Model’ and the virtual harvest session, we can take the important local dialogue from these Regional Summits and create national-level recommendations to improve workforce readiness for collaboration.” 

The in-person Regional Summits will take place on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 from 12:00 Noon - 4:30 pm (ET)/11:00 am - 3:30 pm (CT)/10:00 am - 2:30 pm (MT) at the following five Hub site locations:

  • Birmingham, AL, Hub: University of Alabama at Birmingham

  • Cincinnati, OH, Hub: University of Cincinnati

  • Orlando, FL, Hub: University of Central Florida and Nova Southeastern University

  • St. Louis, MO, Hub: Saint Louis University

  • San Antonio, TX, Hub: UT Medical Branch (UTMB), UT MD Anderson Cancer Center and UT Health San Antonio, and University of the Incarnate Word

Several healthcare hospital systems throughout the U.S will continue their participation at each of these Hub locations again this year.

ASAHP members and industry partners who are interested in participating may register here. The deadline for advance registration is May 16th and registration is limited. 

About ASAHP
The Association of School Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) is a national professional organization of 130 universities and employers focused on critical issues affecting health professions education. ASAHP’s mission is to advance health professions education and discovery through interprofessional collaboration, leadership, excellence, and innovation. As much as 60% of the U.S. healthcare workforce may be classified as ‘health professions’ which are distinct from medicine, nursing, and dentistry, yet equally vital to the health and wellbeing of our society.

House Education Committee Advances Budget Reconciliation Bill

Today, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a mark up of their portion of the budget reconciliation bill. Termed the Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan, the bill advanced out of the House Education and Workforce committee and now goes to the House Budget Committee before being packaged with other committee’s bills and then going to the House floor. The bill cuts about $350 billion over 10 years, after the budget resolution passed by both chambers included reconciliation instructions for the committee to find savings of at least $330 billion.

The bill makes changes to student loan programs and student loan repayment plans as well as Pell grants. It caps the total amount of federal student aid a student can receive annually at the “median cost of college,” defined as the median cost of attendance for students enrolled in the same program of study nationally and calculated by the Secretary using data from the previous award year. It terminates the authority to make Grad PLUS loans and subsidized loans for undergraduate students.

The bill expands eligibility for Pell Grants to students enrolled in short-term, high-quality, workforce aligned programs that meet certain requirements.

The bill creates skin-in-the-game accountability for colleges and universities by amending the terms of the Direct Loan program participation agreement to require institutions to reimburse the Secretary for a percentage of the non-repayment balance associated with loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2027.

The bill establishes a “PROMISE” grants program to provide performance-based grants to institutions.

The bill repeals regulations such as the 90/10 rule, gainful employment, and regulations pertaining to borrower defense to repayment and closed school discharges.

The House hopes for their reconciliation bill to go to the House floor the week of May 19, with the package being signed into law before the Memorial Day recess.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said July 4th is the target date for the budget reconciliation bill’s passage in both chambers. The budget reconciliation bill is to include components from various congressional committees, including an extension of the 2017 tax cuts.

The bill text is here, a section-by section summary is here, a press release including an opening statement from Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI) is here, a press release from the commitee’s Republican majority is here, a press release including an opening statement from Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) is here, letters of opposition and Democratic amendments are here, a Democratic summary of the bill is here, the Congressional Budget Office’s preliminary cost estimate is here. Video of the mark up is here.

Feb. 14 Dear Colleague Letter On Hold

Federal judges in two states handed down rulings on Thursday, the second of which essentially serves as a nationwide injunction, for now, pertaining to the February 14 Dear Colleague Letter from the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, which would have vastly expanded the ruling in the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that prohibited race as a factor in students’ admissions, by barring any DEI related activities on campus.

Coverage from Inside Higher Ed may be accessed here.

President Trump Issues Executive Orders on Accreditation and Other Higher Ed Issues

On Wednesday, President Trump issued seven Executive Orders (EOs) pertaining to education and workforce issues. The Executive Orders are: Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities, Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education, White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future, Reinstating Common Sense School Discipline Policies, Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy, and Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth. The EO on accreditation states Secretary of Education Linda McMahon shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, hold accreditors accountable by suspending or terminating an their federal recognition for poor performance or if they violate federal civil rights law. The EO also states that the Secretary should resume recognizing new accreditors to increase competition and accountability.

Statements from Education Secretary Linda McMahon are here and from House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI) are here. The Executive Order on accreditation is here and a White House fact sheet is here. All Executive Orders may be accessed here. Coverage from Inside Higher Ed is here and here.

Chronicle of Higher Education Webinar Series on President Trump and Higher Education

The Chronicle of Higher Education is holding a webinar series titled, “Trump and Higher Ed: Understanding the Latest.” A Chroncile writer and editor will examine the latest developments in higher education policy, covering executive orders and legal challenges. A session will be held on April 24 at 1pm Eastern and on May 8 at 1pm Eastern.

More details, inlcuding a registration form, may be accessed here.

ASAHP Clinical Education Committee Seeking Graduate Student Project Coordinator

ASAHP’s Clinical Education Committee is looking for a project coordinator . The Project Coordinator will participate in all ASAHP Clinical Education Committee activities, including monthly conference calls and delegated Task Force / ASAHP meetings. The Project Coordinator will work with Committee members to support their objectives and assist with meeting goals of the Committee.

The hours are flexible and up to 4 hours per week. Applicants must be a graduate student at an ASAHP member institution. Students are paid by the hour.

Interested students can apply here.

2025 ASAHP Election: Call for Candidates

ASAHP’s call for candidates submission deadline has been extended from April 15 to Wednesday, April 30.

ASAHP’s annual election will be conducted this Summer. The following positions are open for the 2025 election: 

Board of Directors (three-year term) - 2 open positions
Secretary (two-year term) - 1 open position
Nominations & Elections Committee (two-year term) - 3 open positions

 The election candidate form here, including CV and headshot photo, must now be submitted online no later than Tuesday, April 30, 2025. Election information is also available here. The election will open for voting on July 15, 2025 and will close on August 15, 2025.