Final Rules
- Schedules of Controlled Substances: Extension of Temporary Placement of CUMYL-PEGACLONE in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act Effective Date: 12/12/2025 #EHS #UAPD #UMC
- Schedules of Controlled Substances: Extension of Temporary Placement of MDMB-4en-PINACA in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act Effective Date: 12/12/2025 #EHS #UAPD #UMC
Proposed Rules
- Schedules of Controlled Substances: Placement of CUMYL-PEGACLONE in Schedule I Comments Due: 1/12/2026 #EHS #UAPD #UMC
Notices
- Increasing Access to Nonprescription Drugs; Request for Information Comments Due: 2/2/2026 #ORED #UMC
- TSA Confirm.ID User Fee Effective Date: 12/3/2025 #Campus
- Notice of Availability, Notice of Public Comment Period, and Request for Comment on the Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Drone Package Delivery Operations in the United States Comments Due: 1/8/2026 #Campus
- 2025-2026 Award Year Deadline Dates for Reports and Other Records Associated With the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program (FSEOG) Program, the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program, the Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant) Program, the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program, and the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program #Student Financial Aid
- Request for Information; Updates to the Accreditation Handbook Comments Due: 1/26/2026 #Accrediation
- Information Collection; Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 27 Requirements Comments Due: 2/10/2026 #Procurement #Patents and Copyrights
- Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Application for Approval to Participate in Federal Student Aid Programs Comments Due: 1/26/2026 #Student Financial Aid
Items of Interest
- 2025 Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Call for Nominations Announcement The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health published a Notice in the Federal Register on September 24, 2025, seeking nominations of individuals to serve as non-federal public members on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). The purpose of this Notice is to provide an extension to allow additional time for the acceptance of nominations to the IACC. Nominations are due 1/2/2026.
- What would education’s omission as a ‘professional degree’ mean? Without that designation, graduate or doctoral students would be limited to borrowing $100,000 for their programs.
- Fate of Accountability for Undergraduate Certificates Likely to Loom Over ED Talks The Education Department is crafting regs to carry out a congressionally mandated earnings test for colleges. The contentious gainful-employment rule is also on the table.
- The NIH Policy Holding Researchers ‘Hostage’ An effort to make NIH-funded research immediately accessible to the public has led to disruption and financial strain for scientists already navigating a precarious funding environment. It also spotlights the power of corporate publishers.
- Education Department adds ‘lower earnings’ warning to FAFSA The agency will warn students when they’ve indicated interest in a college whose graduates have relatively low incomes.
- Education Department outlines potential Workforce Pell regulations A draft of regulatory language shares how programs as short as eight weeks could begin qualifying and remain eligible for Pell Grants.
- Pell Grant program faces up to $11B annual budget shortfall The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that expanding eligibility for the grants to short-term programs will add major new costs.
- House Hearing Highlights Potential of Skills Transcripts To one House Republican, learning and employment records “are the future.” Democrats are also on board but want safeguards to protect workers.
- Department of Justice Rule Restores Equal Protection for All in Civil Rights Enforcement Today, the Justice Department issued a final rule updating its regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights of 1964. This rule ensures that our nation’s federal civil rights laws are firmly grounded in the principle of equal treatment under the law by eliminating disparate-impact liability from its Title VI regulations.
- Grad Programs Brace for Loan Caps New borrowing limits for graduate programs and the elimination of Grad PLUS Loans have left universities scrambling to figure out how to help students pay for their education.
- NSF Lowers Grant Review Requirements, NIH Hunts for Phrases Two major federal research funding agencies are altering their grant review processes. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is scaling back its reviews of grant proposals, according to a Dec. 1 internal memo that Science obtained and published, while STAT reported that the National Institutes of Health distributed guidance Friday ordering staff to use a “text analysis tool” to search for certain phrases.
Policy Updates
- The Small Business and SBIR/STTR Research Engagement Policy was revised on 12/2/2025 to update ORED references in the policy.
- The Export Controls Policy was revised on 12/10/2025 to add clarifying language.
- The Faculty Handbook Policy was revised on 12/15/2025 to update language required by federal regulations.