HEA Faces Tough Conference (2/22/2008)

When Congress returns from the week long recess on Monday, one item of unfinished business that remains on its to-do list is reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA). Both chambers passed their own versions of the HEA, which is currently operating under an extension through March 31st. Due to some contentious issues between the two bills, pre-conference negotiations continue to delay the release of a final conference report. The Senate passed S. 1642 on July 24th, while the House just recently passed H.R. 4317on February 7th. Although both bills passed by overwhelming majorities (354-58 in the House, 95-0 in the Senate), the two bills still need to find common ground before a final conference report is released.

S. 1642 would:

• Increase the amount of information that schools and lenders must provide to students, including up-front disclosure of loan rates and terms and data on total school costs, and would ban lenders from giving schools financial aid funds or any other perks to get on a preferred lender list;
• Direct the U.S. Secretary of Education to assess costs that drive tuition increases and examine ways to contain costs and track pricing trends, alerting schools that the government will monitor tuition increases and consider ways to curb them; and
• Require colleges and universities to draft codes of conduct governing relationships with lenders, shorten the application form for federal student aid, and authorize a pilot program to allow students to learn the total aid they can expect to receive up to two years in advance.

H.R. 4317 would:

• Give the U.S. Education Department (ED) significantly more authority to regulate private student loans, as part of a broad set of provisions — prompted by last year’s investigations into illegal inducements given to colleges by lenders — aimed at cracking down on the behavior of lenders and college officials in making loans to students;
• Bar ED from issuing regulations governing higher education accreditation, designed to ensure that colleges are measuring student learning outcomes;
• Set a ceiling on the maximum Pell Grant of $9,000, and allow students to receive Pell Grant funds year-round, instead of just during the traditional academic year; and
• Require States to maintain their financial support of higher education and allow ED to withhold some funds to States that cut their college appropriations — an idea endorsed by some college officials but strongly opposed by many state legislators.

Conferees have yet to meet on the two bills, but negotiations between key staff members and members of Congress continue to take place behind closed doors. Members of Congress seemed intent on finishing the HEA this year, something they have been unable to do since 1998. While appropriations will likely be the top priority in the next few months, Congress may move quickly to get a final bill to the President before the March 31st deadline.

Resources:
Stephen Langel, “Senate Unanimously Approves Higher Ed Reauthorization,” Congress Now, July 24, 2007.
Stephen Langel, “House Easily Approves Higher Ed Reauthorization; Conference Up Next,” Congress Now, February 7, 2008.
Author: SAS