News

  • DHS to Change Visa Rules for High-Skilled Immigrants - February 03, 2012
    As part of the White House Startup America Initiative, aimed at promoting “high-growth entrepreneurship,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on January 31 announced a series of administrative changes that are meant to attract, retain, and improve the immigration process for high-skilled immigrants. Read More
  • Deficit Committee Fails to Reach and Agreement - November 23, 2011
    Despite the unprecedented power given to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to forge a deficit-reduction deal, the panel failed to work through partisan differences and reach an agreement in time to offer Congress a package for consideration by November 23, as required under the Budget Control Act (BCA).  Read More
  • What Does Sequestration Mean for Higher Education? - November 22, 2011
    There was a final, frenzied last-minute effort over the weekend to work out a deal on $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction.  In the end, though, the bipartisan 12-member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (aka the "Super Committee") threw in the towel on Monday and headed home for the Thanksgiving holiday without an agreement.With no deal, the automatic budget cuts that were part of the Budget Control Act creating the Super Committee, will be triggered in FY 2013.  This will mean across-the-board cuts to defense and non-defense programs, doing what the Super Committee could not do. Read More
  • Student Aid Alliance Delivers 100k Signatures to Supercommittee - November 18, 2011
    As part of their Save Student Aid! Campaign, the Student Aid Alliance yesterday delivered a statement of support for federal student aid funding signed by more than 100,000 people to members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Read More
  • Petition to 'Save Student Aid' Reaches 47k Signatures - November 04, 2011
    An online petition developed by the Student Aid Alliance to urge sustained federal funding for student aid has received over 47,000 signatures so far, and the list is growing.  The petition, which will be sent soon to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, notes that recent budget deals have already cut $30 billion from federal student aid programs, even as many states are cutting higher education programs in their own budgets.The petition adds:“That’s why it’s more important than ever to preserve, protect and provide adequate funding for the core federal student aid programs—such as Pell Grants and student loan benefits. Together, these programs offer students an opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills our nation demands for a strong recovery. Tough budget decisions in DC have put pressure on all federal spending, but cutting student aid, a long-term investment in our nation’s future, doesn’t make sense.” Read More
  • Obama Announces Student Loan Changes - October 25, 2011
    President Obama announced a plan Tuesday to help students manage their student loan debt by expanding income-based repayment for current students and allowing students to consolidate their existing loans into one Direct Loan. Read More
  • Ed Department Transition to Direct Lending Gets Mixed Reviews at Hearing - October 25, 2011
    Has the transition in federal student loans to 100-percent direct lending been seamless or riddled with problems? It depends on whom you ask. Read More
  • Coalition Asks Appropriators to Sustain International Education Programs - October 18, 2011
    The Coalition for International Education, a group in which Duke participates, wrote to House and Senate appropriators on October 18 asking them to fund the Department of Education’s Title VI international education programs at the Senate’s higher spending level in a final FY12 spending bill. The Senate bill would allocate $75.7 million for the programs, the same as the FY11 level.  The House bill would level fund Title VI domestic programs but eliminate funding for the Fulbright-Hays overseas programs and Title VI-C, the Institute for Public Policy program. Read More
  • Sixty House Democrats Urge Supercommittee to Protect Investments in Research and Education - October 14, 2011
    A group of 60 House Democrats sent a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction on October 14 urging the panel to “protect, prioritize and strengthen federal investments in education, basic scientific research, and technological development…” as it develops its deficit-reduction plan. The letter, led by Reps. David Price (D-NC) and Rush Holt (D-NJ), said:“Our investments in education, research, and development—including funding for basic science and biomedical research at universities and federal labs and wise incentives for private sector research—have put our economy on the cutting edge of the world’s most advanced industries.  These investments are a powerful way to spur job growth and are a must for a country that seeks to be competitive in the 21st Century economy.” Read More
  • Secretary Napolitano at Duke: The Future of Homeland Security - October 14, 2011
    Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will speak at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy on Thursday, Oct. 20The 5:30 p.m. event in Sanford's Fleishman Commons is free and open to the public, and is part of the school's Terry Sanford Distinguished Lecture series, which brings notable leaders to speak on Duke's campus. Read More
  • Rep. Price to Receive Humanities Award at Duke - October 10, 2011
    U.S. Rep. David Price, the former Duke professor of political science and public policy who has represented the university's district in Congress for all but two of the past 25 years, will be honored Friday, Oct. 21, for his long-time support of the humanities.Thomas Ross, president of the 17-campus University of North Carolina system, will present Price with the 2010 John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities on behalf of the North Carolina Humanities Council. Duke President Richard H. Brodhead also will deliver the annual Caldwell Lecture in the Humanities at the event, which is free and open to the public. Read More
  • Treasury Official Visits Duke, Defends TARP - October 07, 2011
    Timothy Massad, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s assistant secretary for financial stability, addressed students at the Fuqua School of Business on Monday night and touted the Troubled Asset Relief Program, more commonly called by its acronym TARP, or simply, the bailout. After giving a short history of TARP, enacted exactly three years ago, he said it played a large role in saving the financial sector. Read More
  • University Presidents Warn Against "Imprudent" Cuts to Higher Ed - September 21, 2011
    Duke President Richard H. Brodhead joined the leaders of more than 130 U.S. universities Wednesday in calling for a federal budget agreement that focuses on entitlement and tax reforms instead of making further cuts to domestic spending -- including higher education.The chancellors and presidents sent the letter to members of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Read More
  • Duke IGSP Center for Ethics, Law & Policy Organizes Briefing on Breast Cancer Gene Case - September 02, 2011
    On July 29, 2011, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) handed down its long-awaited ruling about the patent lawsuit brought against Myriad Genetics and the US Patent and Trademark Office by a group of more than 20 plaintiffs, led by the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Patent Foundation.  On September 15, patent and genome experts from Duke University will participate in a briefing to educate policymakers, advocacy groups, and other interested parties about the Myriad case.Among the topics to be discussed:•    The history of the Myriad case and explanation of the CFAC ruling.•    Implications of the CAFC decision for breast cancer and other genetic diseases: How will existing and future gene patents be affected?•    Why should Congress be engaged in this debate?Speakers will include:•    Robert Cook-Deegan, Director of Duke University’s Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy’s Center for Genome Ethics, Law & Policy•    Arti Rai, Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law at Duke Law School and member, Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy•    Kevin Noonan, Partner,  McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff and author on the Patent Docs blogThursday, September 15; 9-10:30amReserve Officers Association: One Constitution Ave, NE, Washington, DCFor more information or to RSVP, please contact Kathy Orellana at: korellana@burnesscommunications.com or 301-652-1558. Read More
  • DC Digest Special Edition: Debt Ceilling and Deficit Reduction Deal - August 02, 2011
    After months of intense deficit reduction negotiations, Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011 just hours before the Aug. 2 debt ceiling deadline. The House passed the bill with a 269-to-161 vote, the Senate passed it 74-26, and President Obama signed the deal this afternoon.The package represents a bipartisan compromise between congressional leaders that will reduce the nation's debt through a two-stage process, while simultaneously raising the debt limit so that the U.S. does not default on its current obligations.  The agreement also includes a new version of sequestration – across-the-board spending cuts – established to impose discipline. Click "read more" for details. Read More
  • Short-Term Stability, But... - August 01, 2011
    Congressional leaders appeared late Sunday to have reached a deal on increasing the nation’s debt limit that would avoid many of higher education’s worst-case scenarios: cuts to Pell Grants, the end of subsidized student loans, or a government default that would leave student financial aid and other funding for colleges in limbo going into the fall semester.But as details about the deal began to emerge Sunday evening, it became clear that the plan leaves colleges and universities with plenty of long-term uncertainty. Read More
  • Duke Alums Appointed to White House Transparency and Accountability Board - July 29, 2011
    On Thursday, the Obama Administration announced the launch of the Government Accountability and Transparency Board. The Board, first announced by the President and Vice President in June as part of the Campaign to Cut Waste, will focus on rooting out misspent tax dollars and making government spending more accessible and transparent for the American people. Yesterday, the President named several of the nation’s top watchdogs and leaders on government accountability to the board, which will be led by interim chairman Earl Devaney.Daniel I. Werfel, Controller at the Office of Management and Budget, and Calvin L. Scovel III,  Inspector General at the Department of Transportation, are two Duke alums whom President Obama appointed to the board. Read More
  • NSF Awards $3 Million to Triangle Scientists to Improve Federal Data - July 22, 2011
    NSF AWARDS $3 MILLION TO TRIANGLE SCIENTISTS TO IMPROVE FEDERAL DATAA team of statisticians, economists and political scientists from Duke University and the National Institute of Statistical Sciences has received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Census Bureau to improve how federal statistical agencies share government data with the public.U.S. Census Bureau data is protected under confidentiality laws and cannot be released without being modified to maintain individuals' and businesses' privacy. The Triangle Census Research Network will develop statistical methods for making more of the bureau’s data available to researchers, policy makers and the public, while preserving anonymity. Read More
  • Court Strikes Down Part of State Authorization Rule - July 15, 2011
    The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down on Wednesday a portion of the Department of Education's controversial new rule which requires distance education programs to get authorization in every state where they have students. The rule—known as "state authorization"—is part of a package of new regulations that went into effect July 1. Read More
  • Colleges Replacing Loans with No-Pay Grants (Duke mentioned) - July 11, 2011
    Megan Tuck is living that pleasant lull between college and career, traveling from her Suitland home to a different Starbucks each day with her laptop to look for a job.Tuck has no urgent need for a paycheck because she attended Duke University on a full ride. She is among the first beneficiaries of “no-loan” financial aid, a movement to eliminate the student loan as a fact of life at dozens of the most expensive U.S. colleges. Read More
  • Students Least Likely to Persist Benefit Most from Extra Financial Aid, Study Finds - July 08, 2011
    A research study released Thursday concludes that the at-risk student considered likely to drop out will benefit more -- and that the extra money might make the "most likely to succeed" student more prone to leave without finishing a degree. For needy students overall, the study found, the extra financial aid had little statistically significant impact on whether students stayed enrolled in college and persisted toward graduation. In some cases, the money even appeared to have a negative effect. But on the most disadvantaged students, it had a positive impact, making them more likely to continue toward a degree. Read More
  • Senate Version of H.R. 2117 Would Rescind Education Department Regulations - July 06, 2011
    Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) last week introduced the Senate version of the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act (H.R. 2117), the House bill to rescind the Department of Education’s credit hour and state authorization regulations that went into effect Friday. Duke has been actively engaged in the issue - in fact, President Brodhead and Senator Burr discussed the matter during Brodhead's recent DC trip. Read More
  • New Graduate Fellowships for International Study - June 28, 2011
    The Institute of International Education (IIE) will administer IIE Graduate Fellowships for International Study beginning July 1, to provide support for PhD dissertation research to approximately 80 doctoral students in the humanities whose funding has been lost due to recent significant reductions in federal spending. A special one-time only grant of $3.16 million from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has enabled IIE to create these fellowships so that talented emerging scholars can conduct research overseas for six to 12 months, with the goal of advancing knowledge, research and teaching in non-western languages and area studies. Read More
  • Brodhead Highlights Duke Research, Visits with Alumni in Washington - June 17, 2011
    Duke President Richard H. Brodhead traveled to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to discuss university priorities with policymakers, administration officials, alumni, and other friends of Duke.The discussions focused on Congressional issues of particular importance to the university, including continued support of research funding and of Department of Education student aid programs.Brodhead also attended the Duke Club of Washington's annual DCW Congressional Breakfast.  This year's event, held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning, featured remarks by Duke Medical School alumnus Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and drew a record number of Duke alumni living in the Washington area. Read More