| Senate: | S. 1642, "Higher Education Amendments of 2007," introduced, 6/18/07 |
| S. 1642 passed by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee 20-0, 6/20/07 |
| S. 1642 passed by Senate 95-0, 7/24/07 |
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| S. 1762, "Higher Education Acess Act of 2007" introduced 7/10/07 |
| S. 1762 passed by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee 17-3, 6/20/07 (as draft) |
| S. 1762 text inserted into H.R. 2669 and passed by Senate 78-18, 7/20/07 |
| Conference report on H.R. 2669 passed by Senate 79-12, 9/7/07 |
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| House: | H.R. 2669, "College Cost Reduction Act of 2007," introduced, 6/12/07 |
| H.R. 2669 passed by Education and Labor Committee 30-16, 6/13/07 |
| H.R. 2669 passed by House 273-149, 7/11/07 |
| Conference report on H.R. 2669 passed by House 292-97, 9/7/07 |
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| H.R. 4137, "College Opportunity and Affordability Act," introduced 11/9/07 |
| H.R. 4137 passed by Education and Labor Committee 45-0, 11/15/07 |
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| Administration: | Signed H.R. 2669, became Public Law 110-84, 9/27/07 |
February 28, 2007 On February 27, 2007, H.R. 990, the “Pell Grant Equity Act of 2007” passed the House. The bi-partisan bill, sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA), Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL), and Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX) would eliminate the tuition sensitivity provision in the Pell Grant program, providing all low-income students with the same opportunity to receive a Pell Grant, regardless of the institution they are attending. The bill, if enacted, would expand Pell Grant eligibility to approximately 90,000 to 100,000 additional students attending colleges charging low tuitions, such as community and technical colleges. At this point, it is unclear whether the Senate will attempt to pass this legislation as a stand-alone bill, or combine it into other efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act.
June 13, 2007
In both the House and Senate, progress is being made toward a full reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The Senate is tentatively scheduled to mark up legislation to reauthorize the Act on June 20, and the House will consider portions of the bill related to student loans on June 13.
As both the House and Senate continue to move slowly toward a comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), the House has once again passed an extension to ensure that funds for student loans and other “mandatory spending” portions of the bill continue to be available after the current June 30, 2007 expiration. H.R. 2559, the First Higher Education Extension Act of 2007, was passed by voice vote in the House on June 6, and the Senate is expected to follow soon. This legislation extends the Higher Education Act for four months, until October 31, 2007, and allows Congress additional time to consider reauthorization legislation.
The House Ways and Means Committee has also gotten involved in higher education issues, with a bill that would simplify the tax code by consolidating the three existing higher education tax breaks into one $3,000 per-student tax credit. The three existing tax breaks that would be consolidated include the Hope Credit, worth up to $1,650 per student for the first two years of college; the Lifelong Learning Credit, worth up to $2,000 for any stage of postsecondary education or job skills training; and the tuition tax deduction worth up to $1,000 per student. The Universal Higher Education and Lifelong Learning Act of 2007, H.R. 2458, was introduced by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) on May 23, and enjoys bi-partisan support. The bill would raise the income ceiling that determines eligibility, make the credit refundable, and would be of particular benefit to many community college students by allowing the costs of college attendance beyond tuition and fees, such as books, transportation, supplies, and room and board, to be included in the credit.
July 11, 2007
After several years of delay, bills to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA) are moving through Congress once again. On June 13, the House Education and Labor Committee approved the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, H.R. 2669. This bill was required as part of “budget reconciliation” to cut costs in federal student aid programs, which it accomplished by cutting roughly $19 billion from student loan lender subsidies and directing the money to student and institutional aid and the required budget savings.
While this is not a complete HEA reauthorization bill, it does address many issues related to student financial aid and teacher preparation. It includes raising the maximum Pell Grant to $5,200 by 2011, and instituting new teacher loan forgiveness programs. The full House began debate on H.R. 2669 on July 11.
On June 20, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved two bills related to HEA reauthorization. The first, S. 1642, was approved 20-0. The Higher Education Amendments of 2007 would make changes to the Higher Education Act such as simplifying the federal financial aid application and reforming student loan policies in response to recent ethics investigations.
The second, slightly more controversial bill, the Higher Education Access Act of 2007, was approved 17-3. This bill is the Senate’s version of legislation to meet the “budget reconciliation” requirement to cut costs in federal student aid programs. It would cut student loan lender subsidies by more than $18 billion, and like the House bill, use the savings primarily for new grant and loan aid for students, with a small portion going to deficit reduction. Provisions in this bill would boost the maximum Pell Grant to $5,400 by 2011, and would enact several of ACTE’s HEA priorities, including raising the amount working students could earn and still be eligible for financial aid, and opening up Academic Competitiveness Grants to part-time and certificate students. The full Senate may begin debate on one or both of its Higher Education Act reauthorization-related bills later in July.
July 25, 2007
After approving two bills to reauthorize the Higher Education Act in Committee on June 20, the Senate moved the legislation quickly to the floor. The full Senate passed the Higher Education Access Act of 2007, whose text was inserted into H.R. 2669, by a 78-18 vote on July 20. This bill is the Senate’s version of legislation to meet the “budget reconciliation” requirement to cut costs in federal student aid programs. It would cut student loan lender subsidies by more than $18 billion, and like the House bill, use the savings primarily for new grant and loan aid for students, with a small portion going to deficit reduction. Provisions in this bill would boost the maximum Pell Grant to $5,400 by 2011, and would enact several of ACTE’s HEA priorities, including raising the amount working students could earn and still be eligible for financial aid, and eliminating tuition sensitivity provisions.
On July 24, the Senate passed the remaining portion of its HEA reauthorization legislation, S. 1642, the Higher Education Amendments of 2007, by a vote of 95-0. This much more comprehensive bill would make a range of changes to the current Higher Education Act, including:
- Increasing the amount of information that both schools and lenders must provide to students, including up-front disclosure of loan rates and terms and data on total school costs.
- Opening the Academic Competitiveness Grant Program to students attending college at least half time and to those in certificate programs.
- Refocusing the $60 million Title II Teacher Quality Enhancement grants to consolidate its programs to fund partnerships between teachers’ colleges and districts to support research-based teacher induction, residency, and alternative certification programs.
- Imposing strict new requirements related to student loan lenders and their relationships with postsecondary institutions.
- Requiring colleges to publish their policies on transfer of credit.
- Shortening the Free Application for Federal Financial Aid and increasing the maximum authorization for Pell Grants to $6,300 while authorizing year-round provision of Pell Grants.
Since the House has only passed the budget reconciliation portion of its Higher Education Act reauthorization, and no other comprehensive bill, it is unclear if and when a conference committee will be held and these bills will move forward.
August 8, 2007
After approving two bills to reauthorize the Higher Education Act in Committee on June 20, the Senate moved the legislation quickly to the floor.
The full Senate passed the Higher Education Access Act of 2007, whose text was inserted into H.R. 2669, by a 78-18 vote on July 20. This bill is the Senate’s version of legislation to meet the “budget reconciliation” requirement to cut costs in federal student aid programs. It would cut student loan lender subsidies by more than $18 billion, and like the House bill, use the savings primarily for new grant and loan aid for students, with a small portion going to deficit reduction. Provisions in this bill would boost the maximum Pell Grant to $5,400 by 2011, and would enact several of ACTE’s HEA priorities, including raising the amount working students could earn and still be eligible for financial aid, and eliminating tuition sensitivity provisions.
On July 24, the Senate passed the remaining portion of its HEA reauthorization legislation, S. 1642, the Higher Education Amendments of 2007, by a vote of 95-0. This much more comprehensive bill would make a range of changes to the current Higher Education Act, including:
- Increasing the amount of information that both schools and lenders must provide to students, including up-front disclosure of loan rates and terms and data on total school costs.
- Opening the Academic Competitiveness Grant Program to students attending college at least half time and to those in certificate programs.
- Refocusing the $60 million Title II Teacher Quality Enhancement grants to consolidate its programs to fund partnerships between teachers’ colleges and districts to support research-based teacher induction, residency, and alternative certification programs.
- Imposing strict new requirements related to student loan lenders and their relationships with postsecondary institutions.
- Requiring colleges to publish their policies on transfer of credit.
- Shortening the Free Application for Federal Financial Aid and increasing the maximum authorization for Pell Grants to $6,300 while authorizing year-round provision of Pell Grants.
Since the House has only passed the budget reconciliation portion of its Higher Education Act reauthorization, and no other comprehensive bill, it is unclear if and when a conference committee will be held and these bills will move forward.
September 21, 2007
On September 7th, Congress passed the College Cost Reduction Act (HR. 2669). In the Senate the Act was passed 79-12 with nine senators not voting. Please view the Senate vote. Later that same day, the House also passed the Act by a 292-97 vote. The roll call vote is available. It has now moved to President Bush’s desk waiting to be signed into public law.
Highlights of the bill include:
- Increasing Pell Grants- Congress will continue to fund Pell Grants with discretionary funds at the current level of $4,310 for the maximum award, however increases to the grants will be added starting in FY2008 with mandatory funds of $410 to give a maximum Pell Grant award a new total of $4,800. The Pell grant maximum award level will continue to increase over the next five years on the mandatory spending side to increase the total maximum award to a projected $5,400 in FY 2012. Typically all education programs are considered discretionary spending because the funding has to go through the appropriation process every fiscal year. Programs like Medicare are under mandatory funding. This is funding guaranteed at a certain level each year, eliminating the possibility of a cut or elimination in funding.
- TEACH Grants – These grants encourage future teachers to teach in a high-need subject (i.e. science, technology, engineering and math) in a high-need/low performing school. Undergraduate and graduate students pursuing an education degree could receive scholarships through the TEACH grants if he/she commits to teaching in these high-need schools for four years.
- Student loan forgiveness is provided in the bill for early childhood educators, school librarians, and public safety employees. Also, the Act allows military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan deferment on their student loan payments until they return home.
Due to the fact that H.R. 2669 is a budget reconciliation bill, any new projects that require funding must be offset by costs from other programs. To provide these offsets the Act will reduce lender subsidies by $20 billion in five years and invest $19 billion in the new projects listed above. The majority of the remaining billion dollars will be directed to helping to reduce the federal budget deficit.
October 24, 2007
On October 4, Republican leaders of the House Education and Labor Committee introduced two separate bills. The first one, H.R. 3746, is titled the "College Access and Opportunity Act," and is designed as a comprehensive Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization bill. A summary of the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2007 can be found on the Committee’s Web site.
The second, H.R. 3747, is titled the "Workforce Investment Improvement Act," and would reauthorize the long overdue Workforce Investment Act (WIA). While these bills will not likely be the starting point for Committee activity, they provide insight into the upcoming reauthorization discussions and clearly present Republican views on the respective programs. The Senate has already passed a full HEA reauthorization bill, S. 1642, and is awaiting House action. In the meantime, a temporary extension of HEA has been approved by the House, lasting until April 30, 2008, and is likely to be approved by the Senate soon.
November 8, 2007
Despite earlier speculation that the Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization would be postponed until 2008, it now appears the bill may move forward this year. Rep. Miller, the Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, has reportedly said that he may introduce a bill to reauthorize HEA in the next few days, with committee consideration of the bill to follow the week of November 12. The Senate has already passed a five-year reauthorization bill, S.1642, on July 24 by a vote of 95-0.
In case a reauthorization bill is not completed, the House and Senate have both cleared temporary extensions of the legislation lasting until March 31, 2008, five months past the previous expiration date of October 31.
November 16, 2007
On November 15, the House Education and Labor Committee voted 44-0 to approve a Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization bill. The Committee spent two days debating the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, H.R. 4137, and offering amendments, but the resulting legislation remained bi-partisan.
Key elements of the House bill include allowing Pell Grants to be used year-round, creating a grant program that would partner colleges and local businesses to help prepare students for specific in-demand jobs, establishing a “higher education price index” and a watch list to allow for the comparison of tuition increases at various institutions, simplifying student aid applications, and requiring a host of new reporting requirements. While the bill is bi-partisan, reaction from the broader higher education community is mixed.
Much work still remains to be done on the HEA reauthorization. Committee Chairman George Miller hopes to move the bill to the House floor in December, after the Thanksgiving recess. The Senate has already passed its bill, S. 1642, so there is hope for final legislation late in 2007 or early in 2008.
