Last week, representatives of the American Council on Education and other higher education associations met with House and Senate staff to share their recommendations as the two bodies prepare to reconcile two bills (H.R. 4137 and S. 1642) that will reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA).

Congress plans to finish the conference as soon as possible, but given the size of the legislation, it is not clear how quickly they will be able to move. While conferees have not yet been named, more than 30 hours of House-Senate staff meetings on higher education have been scheduled for this week and next.

The materials the associations presented to Congress provide background and suggested legislative fixes for several areas of concern in the two bills.

Among the issues are the following:

• College price provisions. S. 1642 and H.R. 4137 contain numerous provisions related to college prices. The associations have requested that the final provisions be designed to provide useful consumer information without creating excessive compliance difficulties for institutions.

• Accreditation. Both bills include identical language to limit the authority of the Department of Education to use accrediting agencies to regulate the academic affairs of colleges and universities. This language is vitally important given the department's efforts to dramatically strengthen its control over accrediting agencies as part of the regulatory process last year.

• Regulation. Both bills include a large number of new requirements that would impose regulatory, reporting and recordkeeping burdens on institutions and the Department of Education. The associations have urged Congress to minimize the number of such mandates.

• Endowments. The House bill requires institutions to make annual reports on endowment funds spent to reduce the costs of instruction. This provision is complex, confusing and duplicative of new requirements about to be imposed by the Department of the Treasury as part of its overhaul of Form 990. In light of Treasury's initiative, the associations have asked the House adopt Senate language in this area.

• Student Aid Provisions. Among the concerns regarding student aid is a provision in the House bill which requires the Secretary of Education to implement an IRS income matching system that relies on "prior-prior year" income information in calculating eligibility for federal student aid. While a promising proposal, this idea represents a huge change in the student aid system and it should be piloted and carefully evaluated before full-scale adoption is mandated.

• HEA was first enacted in 1965 to strengthen the educational resources of nation's colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education. The legislation provides funding authorization for programs and activities in four main categories: student financial aid, support services to help students complete high school and enter and succeed in postsecondary education, aid to strengthen institutions, and aid to improve K-12 teacher training at postsecondary institutions.

Congress has reauthorized HEA seven times. The current authorization expired on Sept. 30, 2004 but has been extended multiple times in the past four years.

Posted 03/05/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org