MIGUEL CARDONA

The federal government has opened civil rights investigations at seven schools and universities over allegations of antisemitism or Islamophobia since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

America’s Black and Latino students were at a disadvantage in nearly every measure of education opportunity in the 2020-21 school year.

Partnerships between two- and four-year colleges and universities could help more community college students go on to earn bachelor’s degrees, according to data released Thursday by U.S. Education Department.

Books were about as abundant as candy at a trick-or-treating event that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosted at the White House on the eve of Halloween.

The Biden administration is moving toward a narrower student loan relief plan that would target specific groups of borrowers rather than a sweeping plan like the one the Supreme Court rejected by the Supreme Court.

The Biden administration is asking America’s colleges to step up their efforts to make campuses more racially diverse.

A new federal rule threatens to cut federal money to college programs that consistently leave graduates with low pay or unaffordable debt.

President Joe Biden’s education chief says he’s open to using “whatever levers” are available — including federal money — to discourage colleges from giving preference to the children of alumni and donors.

At least two people have died, thousands of U.S. flights have been canceled and more than 1 million have lost power as destructively strong storms move through the eastern U.S. Residents were warned to stay indoors Monday and prepare for the worst.

Two conservative groups are asking a federal court to block the Biden administration’s plan to cancel $39 billion in student loans for more than 800,000 borrowers.

The Congressional Black Caucus is pushing the White House, Justice Department and the Department of Education to look into whether Florida school districts are violating federal discrimination law following changes to the state's Black history curriculum.

In the wake of a Supreme Court decision that removes race from the admissions process, colleges are coming under renewed pressure to put an end to legacy preferences, the practice of favoring applicants with family ties to alumni.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a new state lawsuit filed on Thursday in Fort Lauderdale is meant to weaken the power that accrediting agencies have over the state’s public colleges and universities.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says the state is suing the Biden administration and U.S. Department of Education over accreditation agencies that control federal aid for students.

College programs that leave graduates underpaid or buried in loans would be cut off from federal money under a proposal issued by the Biden administration on Wednesday.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona visited schools on Thursday in Miami-Dade County and spoke out against Florida legislation that affects public education.

President Joe Biden has honored the nation’s best teachers.

A new rule proposed by the Biden administration would prevent schools and colleges from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes, but it would allow certain exceptions to promote fairness or reduce injuries.

The White House is moving forward with a proposal that would lower student debt payments for millions of Americans now and in the future.

The Supreme Court says the Biden administration program to cancel student loans will remain blocked for now, but the justices have agreed to take up the case in late winter.

President Joe Biden’s education secretary has tested positive for COVID-19.

The Biden administration is moving forward with an overhaul of several student debt forgiveness programs, aiming to make it easier for borrowers to get cancellation if they are duped by their colleges or if they put in a decade of work as public servants.

New national test results show that the pandemic spared no part of the country as it caused historic learning setbacks for America’s children.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona grew up in a musical household playing instruments with his family.

President Joe Biden has officially kicked off the application process for his student debt cancellation program, opening the door for millions of Americans to apply for up to $20,000 in forgiveness.

President Joe Biden has officially kicked off the application process for his student debt cancellation program.

A small business advocacy group has filed a new lawsuit seeking to block the Biden administration’s efforts to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans.

A libertarian group in California filed a legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s plan for student debt cancellation on Tuesday, calling it an illegal overreach that would increase state tax burdens for some Americans who get their debt forgiven.

House Democrats are proposing new legislation that would increase federal student aid, lower interest rates on loans and take other steps to make college more affordable.

Just hours after a Montana judge blocked health officials from enforcing a state rule that would prevent transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificate, the Republican-run state said it would defy the order.

Everywhere, it seems, the return to school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage.

The Biden administration is tying its authority to cancel student debt to the coronavirus pandemic and to a 2003 law aimed at providing help to members of the military.

Students who used federal loans to attend ITT Technical Institute as far back as 2005 will automatically get that debt canceled.

Jill Biden says she didn't doubt that she could keep teaching as first lady and overcame skepticism that she could handle both jobs by instructing her staff to “figure it out.”.

Jill Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona are kicking off a summer learning tour this week with stops in Connecticut, Georgia and Michigan over two days.

The Biden administration has agreed to cancel $6 billion in student loans for about 200,000 former students who say they were defrauded by their colleges.

The rights of LGBTQ students would become enshrined in federal law and victims of campus sexual assault would gain new protections under new rules proposed by the Biden administration.

The 17 people injured during a mass shooting last week in Uvalde, Texas, are trying to heal in a community marked by mourning the deaths of 21 others.

The Biden administration says it will forgive all remaining federal student debt for former students of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges chain.

President Joe Biden hasn't made a decision yet on how he'll handle the student loan debt issue, but his administration is trying to bring closure to one of the most notorious cases of fraud in American higher education.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says he's ashamed the United States is "becoming desensitized to the murder of children” and he's calling for action to prevent more lives from being lost in school shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas.

Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján says Thursday that he’s 90% recovered from his stroke.

The Biden administration has announced that federal student loan payments will remain paused through Aug. 31, extending a freeze that began in 2020 but was set to end after this month.

The Biden administration plans to freeze federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, extending a moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to postpone payments during the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. Secretary of Education visited Cypress Bay High School and Broward College on Monday in Weston.

President Joe Biden has marked Transgender Day of Visibility by denouncing what he's calling “hateful bills” being passed at the state level.

Florida has come under intense national scrutiny over legislation that critics have labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

In another clash between the Biden administration and Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has spoke with LGBTQ students in Florida.

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to announce that historically Black colleges and universities that recently received bomb threats are eligible for federal campus security grants.

The giant American Rescue Plan that provides $1.9 trillion in pandemic relief turns one year old on Friday.

Vice President Kamala Harris is in Selma, Alabama, to mark the anniversary of a defining moment in the fight for equal voting rights.

The Biden administration says it will cancel more than $70 million in student debt for borrowers who say they were defrauded by the for-profit DeVry University.

Jill Biden has turned Valentine's Day into a teachable moment for some second graders at a Washington, D.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says the nation’s schools must act more urgently to help millions of students who have fallen behind during the pandemic.

Mask requirements are returning in some school districts that had dropped them.

The Biden administration is extending a student loan moratorium that has allowed tens of millions of Americans to put off debt payments during the pandemic.

Schools across the U.S. are using portions of the windfall of federal coronavirus relief money to quickly expand their capacity to address students’ struggles with mental health.

The Biden administration is encouraging local school districts to host clinics to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to kids and information to parents on the benefits of the shots.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have recognized the 2021 and 2020 national teachers of the year and all teachers for the work they do.

A student debt forgiveness program with notoriously complex eligibility rules is getting an overhaul from the Biden administration, with the intent of extending debt relief to thousands of public workers.

The Biden administration is moving to relax the rules for a student loan forgiveness program that has been criticized for its notoriously complex requirements.

Connecticut and a handful of other states have recently decided to mandate students be taught about Native American culture and history.

Alaska Gov_ Mike Dunleavy said President Joe Biden’s effort to require millions of U_S_ workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is “ill conceived, divisive, and un-American.”.

The Education Department says it’s investigating five Republican-led states that have banned or limited mask requirements in schools, saying the policies could amount to discrimination against students with disabilities or health conditions.

The Education Department has announced it will forgive student debt for more than 100,000 borrowers who attended colleges in the now-defunct ITT Technical Institute chain but left before graduating.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit over a South Carolina law that bans school districts from imposing mask mandates.

The Biden administration says the historic amount of federal pandemic aid flowing to the nation's K-12 schools presents a moment for reimagining all aspects of American education.

The Biden administration says it will automatically erase student loan debt for more than 300,000 Americans with disabilities that leave them unable to earn significant incomes.

President Joe Biden has ordered his Education secretary to explore possible legal action against states that have blocked school mask mandates and other public health measures meant to protect students.

President Joe Biden’s administration is offering its full-throated support for local cities and school boards in Texas and Florida that are defying orders by their Republican governors that prohibit mask-wearing mandates in schools.

The Biden administration has announced that federal student loan payments will remain suspended through January 2022, extending a pause that was scheduled to expire next month.

A leftist political novice who has promised to be a champion of his country’s poor has been sworn in as Peru’s new president.

The U.S. Department of Education approved Georgia’s plans to use $1.4 billion in federal coronavirus relief money.

The U.S. Education Department has announced it will forgive student loans for more than 1,800 borrowers who attended for-profit colleges that made false recruiting claims.

U.S. health officials say vaccinated teachers and students don't need to wear masks inside school buildings.

President Joe Biden has told the nation's largest teachers union that the nation's educators need “a raise, not just praise.”.

The U.S. Education Department is loosening the rules around a grant program that’s meant to help aspiring teachers pay for college but has actually left many stuck with debt.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says Puerto Rico will receive nearly $4 billion in federal education pandemic relief funds to help boost the U.S. territory’s fight against COVID-19.

The U.S. Education Department on Wednesday expanded its interpretation of federal sex protections to include transgender and gay students.

The U.S. Education Department says it's erasing student debt for thousands of borrowers who attended a for-profit college chain that exaggerated its graduates’ success in finding jobs.

President Joe Biden has met his goal of having most elementary and middle schools open for full, in-person learning in his first 100 days in office.

The Education Department is taking the next step to revise federal rules around campus sexual assault, paving the way for an overhaul of a polarizing Trump-era policy that President Joe Biden has vowed to reverse.

Schools across the U.S. are weighing how to use a windfall from the federal government's latest coronavirus relief package.

The action targets a loan forgiveness program that aims to help people with disabilities but that critics say carries overly burdensome rules. After being granted loan forgiveness, borrowers are required to submit documentation of their earnings for three years. Another 41,000 who had debt reinstated over paperwork issues will again get loan forgiveness, amounting to a combined $1.3 billion. Student Defense, a Washington legal group, said the action helps a small fraction of borrowers eligible for the program. Advocates estimate that nearly 70% of eligible borrowers have not received loan forgiveness and hold an estimated $14 billion in student debt.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the findings, while encouraging, also showed “critical gaps” for in-person learning, especially for students of color. In January, 38% of fourth graders were learning full-time in-person, compared with 28% of eighth graders, the survey found. Among fourth graders, almost half of white students were learning fully in-person, with just over one-quarter learning online. Just 42% of those with disabilities and 34% learning English were enrolled in full-time classroom learning, compared with 38% of all students. AdAmong students learning online, the survey found, the amount of time spent with a live teacher also varied greatly.

WASHINGTON – Thousands of students defrauded by for-profit schools will have their federal loans fully erased, the Biden administration announced Thursday, reversing a Trump administration policy that had given them only partial relief. The change could lead to $1 billion in loans being canceled for 72,000 borrowers, all of whom attended for-profit schools, the Education Department said. The borrower defense to repayment program allows students to have their federal loans canceled if they were defrauded by their schools. The Education Department said a total of 343,331 applications for relief under borrower defense had been received as of Feb. 28. Sen. Patty Murray, who heads the Senate committee overseeing education, said DeVos used “faulty math” to deny student full relief.

“The time is now, and schools must act immediately to get students safely back into school buildings,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Wednesday. As part of that effort, first lady Jill Biden visited a school in New Hampshire on Wednesday. Also Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced $10 billion for states to support school COVID-19 testing programs. That could mean paying teachers and other staff to keep school going through the summer or continuing remote learning to supplement school days. President Biden has ordered states to prioritize teachers in their vaccination plans, and the CDC has released guidelines to help schools reopen.

President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 relief package in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, March 15, 2021, in Washington. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses have launched an ambitious tour this week to promote the $1.9 trillion plan as a way to battle the pandemic and boost the economy. “We want to avoid a situation where people are unaware of what they’re entitled to,” Harris said at the culinary academy. “Shots in arms and money in pockets,” Biden said at the White House. And he mocked Biden's talk of Americans working toward merely being able to gather in small groups by July 4th as “bizarre.”The Biden plan cleared Congress without any backing from Republicans, despite polling that found broad public support.

AdBiden and Cardona also visited a Pennsylvania middle school on Wednesday. To help nudge that along, Biden said Tuesday he is pushing states to administer at least one coronavirus vaccination to every teacher, school employee and child-care worker by the end of March. He said the president’s directive that teachers and school staff be vaccinated quickly will be “my top priority.”Later Wednesday, Biden and Cardona visited Fort LeBoeuf Middle School in Waterford, Pennsylvania, where parents told them they appreciated that the school district had sought their opinion about reopening. She and Cardona also visited a robotics class at the middle school and a class for students who need or want a little extra push. Biden asked the teacher in the sensory room whether she had seen anxiety in children increasing because of the pandemic.

Also pictured is Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, third from right. Among Biden’s 23 nominees with Cabinet rank, just 13 have been confirmed by the Senate, or a little over half. On Tuesday, Biden's Cabinet was thrown into further uncertainty when his nominee to lead the White House budget office, Neera Tanden, withdrew from consideration after her nomination faced opposition from key senators on both sides of the aisle. That must change.”The Biden administration has prioritized confirming those nominees who are key to national security, the economy and public health decisions. The Biden administration has not been completely hamstrung by the slow pace of confirmations, however.

Also pictured is Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, third from right. Among Biden’s 23 nominees with Cabinet rank, just 13 have been confirmed by the Senate, or a little over half. On Tuesday, Biden's cabinet was thrown into further uncertainty when his nominee to lead the White House budget office, Neera Tanden, withdrew from consideration after her nomination faced opposition from key senators on both sides of the aisle. That must change.”The Biden administration has prioritized confirming those nominees who are key to national security, the economy and public health decisions. The Biden administration has not been completely hamstrung by the slow pace of confirmations, however.

FILE - In this Feb. 3, 2021, file photo, Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate has confirmed him as Education Secretary on March 1. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool, File)The Senate voted Monday to confirm Miguel Cardona as education secretary, clearing his way to lead President Joe Biden’s effort to reopen the nation’s schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. AdCardona, who gained attention for his efforts to reopen schools in Connecticut, has vowed to make it his top priority to reopen schools. In an increasingly fractionalized world of education, Cardona has vowed to be a unifier.

More Americans typically turn to community college education amid economic downturns, seeking to learn new job skills or change careers. That troubles advocates and policy makers who cite community colleges as important options for low-income Americans. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, the community colleges enrollment decrease was most pronounced among Black students and Native Americans, groups that both experienced 13% declines over the last year. White and Hispanic community college enrollment fell 10% and Asian enrollment dropped 5%. About 60% of Phoenix College's students are racial minorities, but officials said it’s too early to determine whether minorities experienced disproportionate declines.

Facing criticism that President Joe Biden has not acted aggressively enough on reopening schools, the White House on Thursday said it’s aiming for a full reopening but will defer to science experts on how to achieve it in the middle of a pandemic. The White House drew criticism this week when it said schools would be considered opened if they teach in-person at least one day a week. “I can assure any parent listening that his objective, his commitment, is to ensuring schools are open five days a week,” Psaki said at a press briefing. And this week, the White House said schools would be considered open as long as they teach in-person once a week. Asked why parents should be satisfied with just one day of in-person teaching per week, Psaki appeared to back away from her previous stance.

Some believed it discredited teachers unions that have demanded vaccines before returning to in-person instruction. With the right mix of safety measures in places, teachers unions generally agree the vaccines aren't a condition for reopening. AdBut the plan has drawn fire from critics who say Biden is cowing to teachers unions who see him as an ally. Both of the nation’s two major teachers unions endorsed Biden for president, including the National Education Association, whose 3 million members include first lady Jill Biden, who is a longtime community college professor. Gavin Newsom cited Walensky’s comment as evidence that it’s safe to reopen schools before all teachers get vaccines.

Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. On school choice, Cardona said it’s important that families have education options, but that a quality public school must be one of them. Public schools are “the bedrock of our country,” he said, adding that most students attend public schools. AdHis deep roots in public education helped him stand out as a contender to lead the Education Department. During his presidential campaign, Biden had promised to nominate someone with experience in public education.

FILE - In this Aug. 9, 2017, photo, flags decorate a space outside the office of the Education Secretary at the Education Department in Washington. President-elect Joe Biden has chosen the education commissioner for Connecticut and a former public school teacher to serve as education secretary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)President-elect Joe Biden introduced Miguel Cardona as his pick for education secretary on Wednesday, saying Connecticut's education chief and life-long champion of public schools is the right pick to lead the department as the nation struggles to educate students safely during the pandemic. But despite their occasional conflict with him, a coalition of Connecticut education unions supported his candidacy as Biden's education secretary. Beyond the pandemic, Biden's education secretary will also be tasked with reversing an array of policies enacted by DeVos.

FILE - In this Aug. 9, 2017, photo, flags decorate a space outside the office of the Education Secretary at the Education Department in Washington. President-elect Joe Biden has chosen the education commissioner for Connecticut and a former public school teacher to serve as education secretary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Miguel Cardona, Connecticut's education chief and a lifelong champion of public schools, to serve as education secretary. The selection delivers on Biden’s promise to nominate someone with experience working in public education and would fulfill his goal of installing an education chief who stands in sharp contrast to Secretary Betsy DeVos. Despite their occasional conflict with him, a coalition of Connecticut education unions supported his candidacy as Biden's education secretary.