Written by: Cody Brumfield
Published: 07/31/2008

House Approves Five-Year Higher Education Act Reauthorization

Update: The Senate voted overwhelmingly to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The final tally was 83 to 8 with one member voting present. The bill now goes to President Bush, who is expected to sign it.

After years of extensions, drafts, negotiations and hearings, Congress is poised to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 for the first time since 1998. The bipartisan, thousand-plus page bill covers nearly every aspect of federal involvement in higher education.   The House passed the bill this afternoon by a 380 to 49 margin. Sen. Harry Reid told C-SPAN that his chamber will act on the bill as early as this evening.

Of particular interest to AACRAO members, the final conference language does not include the intrusive federal transfer mandate. Rather, colleges will be required to publicly disclose their transfer policies, whatever they may be.

In addition, the bill includes dozens of new grant programs, authorization for year-round Pell grants, language simplifying the FAFSA, and a ban on conflicts-of-interest in student lending. Less welcome provisions include hundreds of new reporting requirements and several special interest provisions, including one somewhat incongruous requirement that colleges advertise subscription-based online music services "to the extent practicable."   In addition, the bill weakens the 90/10 rule, a safeguard against fraud that requires colleges to gain at least 10 percent of their income from non-federal sources.

The conference negotiators also included a provision strongly opposed by state governors that will punish states that cut education spending. Funding for College Access Grants, which is a matched grant program designed to increase enrollment of low-income students, will now be tied to the maintenance of state-level funding for higher education. Specifically, states will be required to increase spending on higher education by no less than the state increased funding, on average, over the preceding five years.

Negotiators also included a provision that would require the Department of Education to publish a list of the least and most expensive colleges, measured by net cost, across several sectors. Similar ranked lists will be published on percentage increases over a three year period. Colleges appearing on the "largest increase" list will be required to submit a report to the Department with an explanation and a plan to reduce costs in the future.