Higher education institutions across the nation continue to take steps to help prevent the introduction and spread of COVID-19, while still working to meet their students’ educational needs and minimize operational disruptions. Because of guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), colleges and universities across the country are going online for the rest of the semester, reducing their academic year, canceling commencement ceremonies or otherwise modifying operations. Guidance on how to prevent and respond to COVID-19 continues to rapidly evolve as educational institutions face new challenges during unprecedented times.

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has established a resource page for issues relating to COVID-19 to aid educational institutions in their efforts to protect the health of students, faculty and staff, while also maintaining compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. The DOE’s resource page includes information related to the impact of COVID-19 on federal student aid, federal work-study, study abroad programs, audit site visits, accrediting agency site visits, civil rights and more.

Campus closures and other adaptions to educational operations raise concerns about the impact of campus closures and online instruction on the availability of student benefits. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has issued guidance related to the impact of COVID-19 on GI Bill benefits and housing allowances (MHA) for student veterans, who typically have resident credit requirements. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued guidance related to the effect of COVID-19 on maintaining student status for international students, who typically have limitations on the number of coursework credits that can be taken online.

In response to the DOE’s guidance permitting accreditors to make certain accommodations as a result of COVID-19, institutional and programmatic accreditors are providing their own guidance related to campus closures, distance education, changes in enrollment status, disruptions of clinical, practicum or externship experiences, onsite evaluation visits, adjustments to academic calendars and more.

Taft continues to closely monitor the impact of COVID-19 on the higher education community to provide updated information and guidance as educational institutions navigate through these complex and intertwining issues. Please find below links to the most recent guidance and resources for administrators, faculty and other campus stakeholders. If you have questions or concerns related to these or any other issues impacting your institution, please contact a member of Taft’s Higher Education practice group.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Guidance

• Guidance for Institutions of Higher Education.
• Interim Guidance for Administrators of US Institutions of Higher Education.

U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Guidance

• DOE resource page: Information and Resources for Schools and School Personnel.
• Federal Student Aid guidance from the Office of Postsecondary Education: Guidance for interruptions of study related to Coronavirus (COVID-19).
• Federal Work-Study (FWS) community service guidance from the Federal Student Aid: 2020-21 Federal Work-Study Program Community Service Waiver Requests.
• Annual Student Loan Acknowledgment requirement guidance from the Federal Student Aid: Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement – Preliminary Implementation in Late April 2020, Borrower Completion Requirement Delayed until 2021.
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) guidance from the Student Privacy Policy Office: FERPA & Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) FAQs and FERPA & Virtual Learning Related Resources.
• Financial and compliance audit guidance from the Office of Inspector General: Dear CPA Letter CPA-20-01: Site Visit Exemption During COVID-19 Outbreak.
• Accreditation flexibility guidance from the Office of Postsecondary Education: Information for Accrediting Agencies Regarding Temporary Flexibilities Provided to Coronavirus Impacted institutions or Accrediting Agencies.
• Civil rights and anti-discrimination guidance from the Office for Civil Rights: Fact Sheet: Addressing the Risk of COVID-19 in Schools While Protecting the Civil Rights of Students.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Guidance

• Student veteran GI Bill benefit guidance: Veterans’ GI Benefits to Continue During COVID-19 Pandemic.
• COVID-19 general guidance for veterans: Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Guidance

• SEVP-certified school procedural adaptation guidance on campus closures and online instruction: Broadcast Message: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Potential Procedural Adaptations for F and M Nonimmigrant Students. (March 9, 2020).
• Scenario-specific guidance for SEVP-certified schools implementing emergency procedures: COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders. (March 13, 2020).
• Optional COVID-19 School Reporting Template that schools can use to report temporary procedural adaptations.
• Regularly updated Frequently Asked Questions for SEVP Stakeholders about COVID-19. (Last updated March 27, 2020).
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Guidance on COVID-19.

Institutional Accreditor Guidance

• Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC).
• Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET). Click here for guidance.
• Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).
• Council on Occupational Education (COE). Click here for guidance.
• Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC). Click here for guidance.
• Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
• Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Click here for guidance.
• New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). Click here for guidance.
• New York State Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education. Click here for guidance.
• Northwest Commissioner on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Click here for guidance.
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
• WASC Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). Click here for guidance.
• WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). Click here for guidance.

Programmatic Accreditor Guidance

• Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Click here for guidance.
• Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). Click here for guidance.
• American Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (ABA). Click here for guidance.
• American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). Click here for guidance.
• American Occupational Therapy Association, Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (AOTA-ACOTE). Click here for guidance.
• American Physical Therapy Association, Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (APTA-CAPTE).
• American Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation (APA-CoA). Click here for guidance.
• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Additional Higher Education COVID-19 Guidance

• American Council on Education (ACE).
• Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). Click here for guidance.
• National Association of College and Business Officers (NACUBO). Click here for guidance.
• National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). Click here for guidance.
• National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). Click here for guidance.
• State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). Click here for guidance.
• Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Click here for guidance.

Please visit our COVID-19 Toolkit for all of Taft’s updates on the coronavirus.