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Higher Education Act

The Higher Education Act (HEA) is a federal law that governs the administration of federal higher education programs. Its purpose is to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education.

First passed in 1965 to ensure that every individual has access to higher education, regardless of income or zip code, the HEA governs student-aid programs, federal aid to colleges, and oversight of teacher preparation programs. It is generally scheduled for reauthorization by Congress every five years to encourage growth and change.

The HEA has been reauthorized in 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2008. Current authorization for the programs in the Higher Education Act expired at the end of 2013, but has been extended while Congress prepares changes and amendments.
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Latest Actions

Efforts to update the Higher Education Act stalled as the COVID-19 pandemic put Congressional discussions on hold. Prior to the outbreak, lawmakers were reportedly close to reaching a deal after years of failure. However, there is hope that negotiations will eventually resume in the 117th Congress.

HEA in the 116th Congress

  • Senate Action

    U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in September 2019 introduced a piecemeal approach to update the Higher Education Act in the 116th Congress (2019-2020). The Student Aid Improvement Act, S. 2557, included eight bipartisan bills to streamline the Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA), simplify financial aid award letters, expand Pell Grant eligibility for students in prisons and allow Pell to be used for short-term programs, among other changes. The proposal followed months of stalled efforts to reach a bipartisan deal for a comprehensive HEA reauthorization.

    SENATE PRESS RELEASE   BILL TEXT

  • House Action

    Democrats on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee in October 2019 unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the federal higher education law, aiming to cut the cost of college and increase access to college for low-income and minority students. The College Affordability Act included provisions that would:

    • Include the Reverse Transfer Efficiency Act, which AACRAO strongly supports and has advocated for over the past several years
    • Create a national tuition-free community college through a federal-state partnership model where the federal government contributes a per student amount at least 75 percent of the average resident tuition for public community colleges and states contribute 25 percent
    • Increase the maximum Pell Grant award by $500 and permanently index the award to inflation
    • Simplify FAFSA, including an automatic zero EFC for recipients of means-tested benefits
    • Create the Federal Direct Perkins Loan Program to provide an additional source of borrowing for undergraduates and graduates
    • Allow Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and certain other undocumented students access to federal student aid
    • Repeal the federal "student unit record" ban and require the Education Department to develop a system that uses student-level data to evaluate postsecondary outcomes
    • Change the 90/10 rule ratio (the percentage cap of Title IV aid an institution may receive) to 85/15 and expand it to include all educational programs
    • Require the Education Department to establish a Borrower Defense to Repayment process to discharge the federal loans of students who were defrauded by their colleges
    • Require the Education Department to establish a compliance standard that includes a debt-to-earnings threshold for training programs that are statutorily required to lead to gainful employment
    • Prohibit the Education Department from issuing or enforcing the proposed Title IX rules that the Trump administration published in November 2018, among other things.
     

    The College Affordability Act shared some key provisions with the Senate's package of bipartisan bills. Both proposals aimed to streamline FAFSA, simplify financial aid award letters, and expand Pell eligibility for incarcerated students and short-term programs—although the House bill excluded for-profit colleges.

    However, the House measure did not gain any traction in the 116th Congress's Republican-controlled Senate.

    HOUSE PRESS RELEASE BILL TEXT OVERVIEW OF COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY ACT

     

UPDATES

STATEMENTS/LETTERS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE(S)

House Democrats Unveil Comprehensive Overhaul of HEA

October 17, 2019
  • AACRAO Transcript
  • Advocacy
  • Higher Education Act

House Democrats this week introduced the College Affordability Act, which is their proposal for a comprehensive overhaul of the Higher Education Act (HEA) that has not be reauthorized in 11 years.

As with Aim Higher and the PROSPER Act, the HEA reauthorization bills that were introduced by each political party in the last Congress, we are happy to say that the College Affordability Act includes the Reverse Transfer Efficiency Act, which AACRAO strongly supports and has advocated for over the past several years. This legislation would create a new exemption under FERPA and facilitate a four-year institution's ability to share an education record with the two-year institution where a student was previously enrolled for the purpose of evaluating whether between the two institutions the student has enough credits for a credential from the community college. The student must still provide consent that they would want the credential.

Some of the other important provisions that may be of interest to AACRAO members include:

  • Creates a national tuition-free community college through a federal-state partnership model where the federal government contributes a per student amount at least 75 percent of the average resident tuition for public community colleges and states contribute 25 percent
  • Changes the 90/10 rule ratio (the percentage cap of Title IV aid an institution may receive) to 85/15 and expand it to include all educational programs
  • Increases the maximum Pell Grant award by $500 and permanently indexes the award to inflation.
  • Repeals the ban on incarcerated individuals from accessing Pell Grants
  • Allows DACA, DAPA and individuals with Temporary Protective Status access to federal student aid.
  • Simplifies FAFSA, including an automatic zero EFC for recipients of means-tested benefits
  • Includes the College Transparency Act, which strikes the "student unit record" ban, and would require the Department of Education to develop a system that uses student-level data to evaluate postsecondary outcomes
  • Prohibits the Department of Education from issuing or enforcing the proposed Title IX rules that the Administration published in November 2018.

The bill is nearly 1200 pages long, so we are still reviewing it more closely. We will obviously follow the bill's progress on Capitol Hill and keep AACRAO members and stakeholders informed.

In the meantime, please join the AACRAO Government Relations team on Wednesday, October 23 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) for a more in-depth analysis of this legislation.  Click here for more information.

- Mike

 

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