The Weekly Update

Welcome to the Universities of Wisconsin Government Relations Newsletter. The Office of Government Relations provides legislative and political updates that impact the Universities of Wisconsin at the state and federal level.

Subscribe below to receive weekly e-mail notifications for state and federal legislative updates.

 

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State Relations

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State Building Commission

The State Building Commission (SBC) will have a virtual meeting on Tuesday, October 8. The subcommittee times are as follows:

  • Administrative Affairs: 9:00 a.m.
  • Higher Education: 9:45 a.m.
  • Full Commission: 11:00 a.m.

All the meetings will be broadcast live via WisconsinEye. The meeting agenda can be found on the DOA website.

Federal Relations

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U.S. Department of Education Announces Additional Participants in 2025–26 FAFSA Beta Testing

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced additional participants in the 2025-26 FAFSA beta testing. The Department of Education also shared additional resources for students, families, and institutions.  

As included in the linked release, the Department of Education provided:

  • “A revised Federal Student Aid Estimator, which provides an estimate of the 2025-26 Student Aid Index (SAI) and federal Pell Grant eligibility calculation.”
  • “Updated resources to support creating a StudentAid.Gov account including a new stand-alone ‘parent wizard’ or contributor tool to help students and families determine who will need to provide contributor information on the 2025-26 FAFSA prior to starting the form.“
  • “An updated 2025–26 FAFSA prototype, which provides the financial aid community an advance opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the FAFSA user experience ahead of its release.” 

For more information, you can also review: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/beta.

House and Senate Floor Schedules

The House and Senate remain in district and state work periods this week. Both chambers are scheduled to return to Washington the week of November 11.

Note: Links to external sites are provided for informational purposes and not meant to convey an endorsement of the Universities of Wisconsin.