The following is an Excerpt from the ASA May Newsletter
Chair Letter
Paul Magee, M.A.O.M., L.Ac.
Chair, ASA Board of Directors
Hello again,
It has been a busy few months since the last newsletter came out. I would like to start by thanking everyone who contributed to making ASA’s 2026 Conference in Minneapolis a success. We had excellent speakers, enthusiastic attendees and generous vendors without whom we could not have held the event. The members of the ASA Conference Committee worked tirelessly to make the event go as smoothly as possible, largely behind the scenes — they did an amazing job. Thank you all so very much for making our conference a success.
The two initiatives from the Department of Education are proceeding without any signs of changing course. The Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) committee rules were finalized on May 1, and the comment period for the changes proposed by the Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) committee is complete. The RISE rules change the criteria for what can be considered a professional degree program, and Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine programs were not determined to be included. Several other degree programs as well, including Nurse Practitioners, Social Workers, Architects, and Occupational Therapists, to name just a few, were also excluded. There is already a lawsuit being filed by the Attorney Generals of several states to try and block these new rules, and the ASA is coordinating some very targeted lobbying to get the legislature to block the rule as well.
The AHEAD committee proposed rules are related to an assessment of the costs of education weighted against the first 4 years of income of graduates based on their tax filings with the IRS. Institutions that fail to meet this metric will lose access to public student loans. The comment period for this proposed rule ended on May 20, and I want to thank everyone that was able to submit a comment within our very short window. The Department of Education reduced their standard 60 day period for comments to 30 days for both the RISE and AHEAD proposals, putting additional obstacles in the way of anyone trying to engage in the process.
And, as a final note, there are several ASA committees that could use new volunteers, as could our Board of Directors. If you are interested in serving our profession I invite you to submit an application to our Nominating Committee. Please use the links they provide in their Committee Update section.*
Be well.
Paul Magee, M.A.O.M., L.Ac.
Chair, ASA Board of Directors
Please Note:
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Please remember: This article expresses the opinions and research of the author, and does not necessarily reflect all views or policies of NMSAAM members, the NMSAAM BOD, or the ASA.