The House and Senate are expected today to consider the Higher Education Opportunity Act, legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The HEA hasn't been reauthorized since 1998.
Negotiators from the House and Senate reached an agreement on a Conference Report that reconciled the two chambers' versions of the bill late Tuesday and it appears they will pass this compromised version of the bill before adjourning for August recess. This would clear the bill for the President's signature this month.
The legislation creates some important benefits for students and requires institutions to meet a host of new reporting and disclosure requirements. A more comprehensive summary of provisions in the bill - provided by Senate education committee chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA) - is included below. NASFAA is working on an in-depth summary to provide to members in the near future.
NASFAA President and CEO Dr. Phil Day sent a letter to House and Senate education leaders Wednesday urging Congress to pass the Higher Education Opportunity Act. He also urged them to follow through on their promises to make higher education affordable to the nation's students by providing the necessary funding levels through the annual budget process. In addition, Day expressed some concern about the lack of time institutions will have to comply with significant new requirements in the bill.
The letter:
- Expresses appreciation for increased funding level authorization in the Federal Pell Grant program
- Urges appropriations levels that match expanded authorization levels
- Supports certification of private student loan applications, which allows more opportunities for borrower counseling
- Expresses some concern about the lack of time given to implement significant new requirements.
The letter states, "NASFAA supports passage of the Conference Report and urges all Members of Congress to vote for it. Further, NASFAA urges President Bush to sign this bill into law to strengthen the federal government's commitment to create a highly educated, more competitive workforce that is better prepared to handle the challenges of a global economy."
The complete text of the letter is available online.
Summary of the Higher Education Opportunity Act
Based on Sen. Kennedy's summary
College and Textbook Costs
- Provides more transparency about college costs by requiring the Department of Education to publish detailed data about college pricing trends on its Web site.
- Requires the top 5% of colleges that have the greatest cost increases over three years for their sector to submit detailed reports to the Secretary of Education explaining why their costs have risen, and what steps they will take to hold costs down.
- Requires textbook publishers to "unbundle" materials so students can purchase only those materials they need for their classes, and requiring colleges to make more detailed information about textbooks available on their online course catalogs.
Federal Financial Aid Application Process
- Immediately creates a new 2-page EZ-FAFSA for low-income students, and phasing out the current 7-page FAFSA for all applicants within 5 years.
- Experiments with new ways the financial aid application process can be simplified further, by creating a pilot program that allows students to receive an aid determination or estimate in their junior year of high school, and encouraging the Department of Education to work with the IRS to share tax data that can be used to pre-populate students' financial aid application forms.
Ethics and Transparency in the Student Loan Sector
Includes provisions that prohibit lenders, guaranty agencies, and colleges from offering or accepting payments, gifts, and other inducements as a condition of making student loans.
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- Requires colleges to establish and follow a code of conduct with respect to student loans.
- Requires colleges that identify "preferred lenders" to place at least three lenders on the list, and clearly explain to students why the college believes the lender is offering attractive terms and conditions.
- Creates a student "self-certification" process for non-Federal private educational loans, to ensure that students maximize low-cost Federal aid first and prevent students from borrowing more private loans than they need to cover the cost of college.
- Requires lenders to guarantee the terms and conditions they offer to a prospective private education loan borrower for 30 days after the borrower's loan application is approved, and allowing borrowers to cancel a private education loan, without penalty, within three days after the loan is consummated.
Aid for Military Veterans and Their Families
- Allows service members to defer payments, interest-free, on Federal Direct Loans while they are on active duty.
- Provides in-state tuition for members of the Armed Forces and their dependents who have lived in a state for more than 30 days.
- Enables U.S. students who leave their college for military service to re-enroll easily when they return.
- Ensures that military benefits do not count against service members' eligibility for federal grants and loans to pay for college.
- Provides new college scholarships for children and family members of service members who have died since 9/11.
- Creates a new on-line clearinghouse for service members to learn about the college benefits available to them.
Grant Aid for our Needy Students
- Increases Pell Grants from $4,800 to $6,000 for 2009 and to $8,000 for 2014.
- Allows low-income students, for the first time, to receive Pell Grants year-round, to help students accelerate the completion of their degrees.
- Creates the Grants for Access and Persistence (GAP) program, a new matching grant program to allow states to increase need-based grant aid to students.
TRIO and GEAR UP
- Expands required activities in the TRIO programs, with a special focus on improving students' financial and economic literacy.
- Requires the Secretary of Education to measure the quality and effectiveness of TRIO programs more rigorously, and requiring a comprehensive evaluation of the Upward Bound program to be implemented by 2010.
- Creates new due process provisions to ensure that TRIO program applicants are assessed fairly and accurately.
- Enables GEAR UP programs to offer early intervention and other activities, including extended school day programs, encouraging student enrollment in challenging secondary coursework, professional development, and dropout recovery.
Aid for Students with Disabilities
- Makes students with intellectual disabilities who enroll in higher education programs eligible for Pell Grants and Federal Work-Study funds for the first time.
- Creates a new program to expand the number of postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities.
- Supports model demonstration projects to make college course materials more accessible for students with print disabilities.
- Establishes a National Technical Assistance Center at the Department of Education to support all efforts to enhance the participation of students with disabilities in higher education.
Teacher Preparation Programs
- Promoting innovative and effective teacher preparation programs for new and prospective teachers, including effective preparation, induction, and residency programs.
- Creates a pipeline for high-quality teachers to teach in high-need schools by promoting partnerships between teacher education programs and high-need districts.
- Holds institutions of higher education accountable for the quality and progress of their teacher preparation and alternative certification programs.
Expands and Strengthening Nursing Faculty
- Creates a new capitation grant program to help nursing schools enroll more students.
- Authorizes funds for nursing schools to improve and strengthen their faculty.
Media Coverage
By Haley Chitty
NASFAA Associate Director of Communications
Posted 07/31/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
