By omittingย language explicitly allowing institutions that receive certain government funding to use incentive compensation when recruiting international students, stakeholders have previously warned that theย THRIVE Actย threatens the US’s ability toย compete for international student talent.
The act was signed into law on June 8 andย took effect August 1.
“We are hopeful Congress will act quickly to advance these fixes into law”
Onย October 8ย US Representative Mike Bost introducedย H.R. 5509: the Student Veteran COVID-19 Protection Act of 2021 andย Representative David Trone introducedย H.R. 5545: the Responsible Education Mitigating Options and Technical Extensions (REMOTE) Act.
Both bills include fixes that will restore institutions’ ability to use incentive-based arrangements in international student recruitment, NAFSA highlighted.
“NAFSA is very pleased to see these bills introduced, and we are hopeful Congress will act quickly to advance these fixes into law,” saidย Rachel Banks, NAFSA’s senior director of Public Policy & Legislative Strategy.
Stakeholders had previously been concerned that theย THRIVE Act would reverse the 1965 Higher Education Act which has specific language permitting theย use incentive compensation to recruit international students.
The bill presented by representative Bost proposes to add an exception for “the recruitment of foreign students residing in foreign countries who are not eligible to receive federal student assistance”.