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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

Senate Panel Tackles Accountability in Higher Education

Apr 11, 2019, 09:16 AM
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Summary : Committee meets to discuss strengthening accountability as part of the chamber’s efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act.
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The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Wednesday held a hearing on higher education accountability.


HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) aim to strengthen the methods and means the federal government utilizes to hold colleges and universities accountable for the federal aid they receive as part of the panel’s efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). However, both lawmakers hold differing opinions on key policy proposals to accomplish that goal.

Tressie McMillan Cottom, Assistant Professor Of Sociology at Virginia Commonwealth; Adam Looney, Joseph A. Pechman Director Of The Center On Regulation And Markets at the Brookings Institute; David Tandberg, Vice President For Policy Research And Strategic Initiatives at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO); and Belle Wheelan, President of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges testified at the hearing.


Meanwhile, the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment also held a hearing last week on the subject of accountability, as the chamber works on its own comprehensive update of the HEA. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) submitted testimony to the panel identifying opportunities to strengthen federal higher education accountability in three areas: educational quality, financial stability, and federal student loan defaults.


The GAO found that schools with weaker student outcomes were, on average, no more likely to be sanctioned by accreditors than schools with stronger student outcomes, and the Education Department does not make consistent use of sanction data that could help it identify insufficient accreditor oversight. It recommended that the department use accreditor data in its recognition review process to determine whether accreditors are consistently applying and enforcing their standards to ensure schools provide a quality education.

The office also recommended the department update the financial composite score it uses to measure the financial health—and potential risk of closure—of schools participating in federal student aid programs. The score, which has not been updated since it was first established more than 20 years ago, has, as a result, become an imprecise risk measure, as it does not reflect changes in accounting practices and standards, relies on outdated financial measures, and is vulnerable to manipulation.


Additionally, the GAO suggested that Congress consider statutory changes to strengthen schools’ accountability for student loan defaults. The office previously found that some institutions managed these default rates by hiring consultants that encouraged borrowers with past-due payments to put their loans in forbearance, an option that allows borrowers to temporarily postpone payments and bring past due loans current. Although Education Department officials and student loan experts said forbearance is intended to be a short-term option, GAO’s analysis of federal data found that 20 percent of borrowers who began repaying their loans in 2013 had loans in forbearance for 18 months or more. These borrowers defaulted more often in the fourth year of repayment, when schools are not accountable for defaults, suggesting long term forbearance may have delayed—not prevented—default.

Related Links

U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Hearing

https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/reauthorizing-the-higher-education-act-strengthening-accountability-to-protect-students-and-taxpayers

U.S. Government Accountability Office Testimony

https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/698170.pdf

Michelle Mott
Categories :
  • Accreditation
  • Advocacy
  • Financial Aid and FAFSA
  • Higher Education Act
Tags :
  • default
  • education department
  • Federal relations
  • federal student loans
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