Leaders of the House Education and Labor Committee announced that they expect the House to vote on College Opportunity and Affordability Act (H.R. 4137) on Thursday, Feb. 7.

The legislation reauthorizes the Higher Education Act (HEA), which sets financial aid policy for the next five years. The bill clarifies appropriate financial aid professional/lender relationships, simplifies the financial aid application process, provides loan forgiveness for national need occupations, attempts to slow rising college costs, and creates a host of reporting requirements for higher education institutions. A complete summary of the H.R. 4137 is available on the NASFAA Web site.

If approved by the House, negotiators from the House and Senate would then hash out the differences between the two chambers' versions of the bill. The House and Senate must then approve the negotiated version of the bill and send the bill to the president to be signed into law.

Posted 02/01/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.