Comment on FR Doc # 2026-13248

The proposed rulemaking would rescind the International Education Programs regulations and the Fulbright-Hays Program Regulations. Such a change, the Secretary of Education proposes, would provide more flexibility to the Department of Education “to align sch programs with current and evolving priorities and needs. . . .” The wholesale evisceration of current regulations for the programs cannot be justified by such an argument. The impact of such a change would be huge—undermining the important progress that has been achieved by these International Programs over the past 50 years. The success of these programs in promoting “soft power” for the U.S. has been enormous. That success though, was based on the regulations (now under threat), which have insured predictability, continuity, and peer review in ways that have built institutional capacity. The actual grants to universities and other entities in the programs are relatively modest. Yet the funds achieve a great deal; not just supporting fellowships, programmatic initiatives, and some indirect costs, but also legitimizing the study of other languages and cultures in the eyes of university administrators. I strongly urge that the proposed changes be rejected.