Comment on FR Doc # 2026-13248

The American Historical Association (AHA) submits this comment on the proposed rule International Education Programs and Fulbright-Hays Program; Recission of Regulations (Docket ID ED-2026-OPE-0991), published July 1, 2026. The AHA is the world’s largest association of professional historians, representing 10,000 members across all 50 US states and territories, including historians employed in colleges and universities, K–12 schools, museums, archives, libraries, government agencies, and other institutions. Our members have long benefited from and contributed to Title VI International Education Programs and the Fulbright-Hays Programs, which strengthen the nation’s capacity in foreign languages, area studies, international research, and global engagement. The Department has not demonstrated that rescinding the regulations governing the Title VI International Education Programs and Fulbright-Hays Programs would improve program administration or better fulfill the statutory purposes established by Congress. Instead, the proposal would eliminate longstanding regulations that promote transparency, fair competition, and accountability while creating significant uncertainty for institutions that rely on these programs to develop the nation’s international expertise. The Department of Education’s Title VI and Fulbright-Hays Programs are the nation’s foundational programs for international education, research, and foreign language studies, especially for less commonly taught languages and areas of the world that hold special strategic interest for US diplomatic presence, national security, and global economic competitiveness. The AHA is concerned that the proposal could weaken the long-term stability of programs that support the nation’s research enterprise and the development of international expertise. In the historical discipline, the rule would reduce this nation’s ability to produce the evidence-based scholarship that informs education, public policy, cultural institutions, and public understanding of the past. Language study is fundamental to the work of historians, particularly those who study regions beyond the United States, and is a prerequisite for rigorous historical research. Title VI and Fulbright-Hays programs provide critical support for foreign language instruction and educational exchanges that enable historians to conduct research, interpret sources, and contribute new knowledge about the past. The proposal would eliminate longstanding regulations that provide transparency, consistency, and accountability without adequately explaining how their removal would improve program administration. As such, we request that the Department of Education retain the existing regulations and not finalize changes to 34 CFR Parts 655, 656, 657, 658, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, and 669. Please find the AHA’s comment attached in full. Respectfully submitted, Sarah Weicksel Executive Director American Historical Association