Dear Colleagues,
In recent weeks, there have been growing indications that the House Committee on Education and the Workforce is preparing to introduce and mark-up a comprehensive bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). Committee staff has been meeting with association representatives, including AASCU staff, to broadly discuss their framework and hear our concerns.
These meetings, while certainly welcome and much appreciated, have not been particularly fruitful in shaping a bill that improves on current law. As a reminder, as of 2015, the HEA no longer sunsets as it did over the decades since its inception, and its reauthorization is not legally necessary for programs authorized under current law to continue. Without the threat of program termination, a discretionary reauthorization like this one should be judged against the baseline of existing programs to see which version better delivers on the promise of access and opportunity for students and families. Based on what little is known to date, we unfortunately suspect that current law, with all of its shortcomings, may be significantly preferable to the coming House bill.
We have heard that the legislation will be introduced this Friday, December 1st, and that the Committee mark-up will take place on Thursday, December 7th. The speed with which the Committee apparently intends to modify and approve such a significant revision of the law—a mere six days from the unveiling to Committee approval—is itself a problem in that it prevents observers (and many Committee members) from understanding and analyzing the bill’s intended and unintended effects. We have been told that the exact timeline may change, but that the Committee does intend to mark-up a bill before the end of this calendar year.
The following is a “semi-official” summary of the bill’s possible provisions. The descriptions are intended to cast as positive a light on the changes the Committee may intend to make to current law, most of which won’t be fully known until the actual text of the legislation is released. Based on this very tentative summary, we are concerned that the bill could cut important benefits—SEOG, in-school student loan subsidies, caps and limitations for loan availability, redefining full-time eligibility for aid to 15 credits, and TRIO changes, to name a few. We are concerned that it will dilute what aid remains available by expanding eligibility of new providers (presumably coding boot camps and other short-term for-profit players), and eliminating critical distinctions between non-profit colleges and universities and for-profit companies. This latter change would not only diminish the value of legitimate academic credentials by comingling vastly different types of institutions, it would also potentially diminish available university funding under other titles or other federal laws by rendering for-profits eligible for programs for which they are currently ineligible. In addition, there are indications that some of the changes amorphously described as improvements may in fact introduce risk-sharing for institutions of higher education, significantly expand the federal government’s role in mandating academic policy, and alter accreditation in problematic ways.
We are sharing this information only to advise you that a House bill is imminent and may move quickly. It is important to note that the information we have is unconfirmed and that the official draft may look different from the current descriptions. In addition, little is known about changes to other titles of the HEA. We will share additional information with you as we learn more.
A Deal that Works for America’s Students
The Committee’s Higher Education Act reforms will Promote Innovation, Access, and Completion by:
- Providing low-income students access to new providers of higher education by allowing those providers to join with traditional colleges and universities for the entirety of a student’s educational program.
- Encouraging on-time completion by updating the definition of an academic year.
- Repealing the antiquated and rigid definition of distance education to allow for innovative methods of instruction.
- Encouraging competency-based education by creating a clear pathway for such programs to be eligible for federal student aid to help students attain a less costly degree based on their own learning schedule rather than time spent in a seat.
- Expanding industry-led earn-and-learn programs that lead to high-wage, high-skill, and high-demand careers.
- Supporting at-risk and minority students by reforming the TRIO programs to better evaluate the effectiveness of these programs and allowing all institutions to apply for funds that encourage evidence-based innovations, including pay for success initiatives, to promote postsecondary access and completion.
- Encouraging minority-serving institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities to use grant funds for completion-focused initiatives such as pay for success, dual enrollment, and the development of career-centered programs.
- Repealing unfair requirements that limit low-income students’ access to career-focused institutions and treating all institutions the same.
The Committee’s Higher Education Act reforms will Simplify and Improve Student Aid by:
- Streamlining the student aid programs into one grant program, one loan program, and one work study program to ease confusion for students who are deciding the best options available to responsibly pay for their college education.
- Providing access to a new ONE loan with reasonable loan limits and terms and conditions.
- Reforming the work study program so that dollars go to institutions by undergraduate student need, and increasing a focus on workforce development by eliminating the arbitrary cap on students working at private-sector companies.
- Disbursing grant and loan aid to students on a weekly or monthly basis, similar to a paycheck.
- Paring down the maze of repayment options to one standard 10-year repayment plan and one income-based repayment plan to help borrowers better manage their debt after graduation.
- Preventing fraud in the Pell Grant program by making sure students who have received a grant for at least three payment periods but have never completed any credit hours or credit hour equivalences do not receive additional Pell grants.
- Making the FAFSA available on a mobile app and requiring both the app and the online form to be consumer-tested and clear and easy to use.
The Committee’s Higher Education Act reforms will Empower Students and Families to Make Informed Decisions by:
- Improving information available to students and families with a consumer-tested College Dashboard website that would display key information about colleges and universities, including enrollment, completion, cost, and financial aid.
- Providing aggregated information on the average debt of borrowers at graduation and the average salary of students who received federal financial aid both five and ten years after graduation for each program at an institution that participates in a student aid program under Title IV.
- Streamlining transparency efforts at the federal level to reduce confusion for students and requiring federal agencies to coordinate more effectively, avoid duplication, and deliver reliable information to consumers in a way that is easy to understand.
- Enhancing financial aid counseling to help all recipients of federal financial aid better understand their options to responsibly finance their higher education pursuits and the obligations they can expect after graduation.
- Improving early awareness of federal financial aid options for students in high school.
- Preventing the federal government from imposing a one-size-fits-all system that would arbitrarily rate our nation’s diverse colleges and universities, restrict consumer choice, confuse families, and potentially limit postsecondary options for low- and middle-income students.
The Committee’s Higher Education Act reforms will Ensure Strong Accountability and a Limited Federal Role by:
- Strengthening the accreditation process to better focus on student achievement, allow for innovation, reduce cost and burden, and increase transparency.
- Moving to a program level loan repayment rate that will help target federal student aid to programs where graduates have the ability to repay their student loans.
- Reforming the return to Title IV (R2T4) process to reduce burden and increase institutional risk-sharing tied to student completion.
- Reforming the Office of Federal Student Aid and directing the Chief Operating Officer to be more transparent about the performance of the federal student loan system.
- Holding the Secretary of Education accountable by explicitly prohibiting her from exceeding her authority, defining any terms inconsistent with the law, or adding any requirements on institutions and states that are not explicitly authorized in the law.
- Eliminating burdensome federal regulations that put Washington in the middle of issues that are the responsibility of institutions or states, limit student choice, and stifle innovative practices by institutions.
- Repealing unnecessary reporting requirements that fail to provide useful information to students, families, and policymakers, and exacerbate rising college costs.
- Improving the rulemaking process by outlining specific procedures the Secretary of Education must follow when issuing federal regulations under Title IV, including mandating minimal comment periods for stakeholders and providing a congressional notice and comment period.