House Committee on Education and Labor
U.S. House of Representatives

In 1965, the Higher Education Act (HEA) was established to help low- and middle-income students gain access to college.  Today, the federal government is investing tens of billions of dollars annually in direct aid to students, and hundreds of millions of dollars more are provided to colleges and universities.  Yet troubling cost increases, year after year, have made it clear that colleges and universities are not being held accountable to students, parents, and taxpayers, the consumers of higher education.

With the Higher Education Opportunity Act (H.R. 4137), Republicans are reaching across the aisle to restore the HEA to its original mission of providing access to college for low- and middle-income students.  The bill will empower consumers through sunshine in college costs, financial aid, and accreditation; update programs to better meet the needs of changing student populations; and strengthen financial aid opportunities.  Together, these reforms will strengthen America’s higher education system by expanding college access and restoring the focus on students.  The final version of H.R. 4137 was approved by the House of Representatives on July 31, 2008 by a vote of 380 – 49.

Empowering consumers through “sunshine” in college costs, financial aid & accreditation:

• Shining a spotlight on excessive tuition hikes.  For students and families grappling with rising college costs, the bill establishes college affordability comparison tools to help put the cost increases into perspective.  Students will be able to search, sort, and compare key cost indicators for every school in the country.  In addition, lists will be created to identify the most expensive institutions, the least expensive institutions, and the institutions with the greatest cost increases, by percentage.  An exemption is provided to ensure exceptionally low-cost schools are not unfairly penalized.  The schools with the greatest cost increases will be required to disclose additional information about what is driving their cost increases and what can be done to address them.  States will also be required to do their part to hold down costs through funding maintenance of effort requirements.
• Giving consumers more information about what they’re getting for their money.  The bill calls for greater disclosure of comparable, useful data to help students and families make educated higher education choices.
• Addressing the role of textbooks in the cost equation.  Students and families struggle to afford more than just tuition and fees – the cost of textbooks adds a considerable burden as well.  The bill calls for greater transparency and disclosure to help students and schools keep textbooks accessible and affordable.
• Protecting students from financial aid conflicts of interest.  The bill requires additional disclosure for lenders and colleges to ensure students are protected and their interests come first.  It requires institutions to establish codes of conduct, and clarifies what actions would be considered conflicts of interest.
• Making accrediting agencies more accountable by making information more public.  Accreditation is a fundamental component of our nation’s higher education system, with many consumers viewing accreditation as a seal of quality.  The bill will help make the accreditation system more transparent and understandable to the public.
• Making transfer of credit policies public.  To help students better prepare for a higher education path that might involve multiple schools, the bill calls for transfer of credit policies to be made public.

Updating programs to better meet the needs of changing student populations:

• Strengthening Pell Grants.  The bill will allow year-round Pell Grant aid for students attending school on a non-traditional schedule, and increase the program’s authorization.
• Ensuring fair treatment of institutions of higher education.  The bill will protect low-income and non-traditional students by ensuring student aid isn’t immediately jeopardized by the burdensome “90/10” rule.
• Strengthening federal college access programs.  The bill will reauthorize and strengthen federal college access programs for low- and middle-income students, including TRIO and GEAR UP.
• Supporting minority serving institutions.  The bill reauthorizes and strengthens minority serving institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), among others, which play a key role in providing access to higher education for American students.

Strengthening financial aid opportunities:

• Creating one-stop financial aid websites.  To streamline and improve access to information about federal financial aid programs, the bill requires that the Department of Education provide easier access to its student financial assistance website and share information about financial aid opportunities available through other federal agencies.  The bill also creates a financial aid website targeted toward military members and veterans, as well as a site to provide information to those interested in careers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
• Targeting loan forgiveness to priority fields.  The bill will provide loan forgiveness opportunities for professionals in high-demand fields including nurses, early childhood educators, foreign language specialists, speech language pathologists, and medical specialists.
• Simplifying the financial aid process for needy students and families.  To ease the financial aid application process, the bill would encourage a reduction in the number of questions on the FAFSA form, take steps to make reapplying for aid easier, and allow students to estimate financial aid eligibility earlier in the college exploration process.

Other features:

• Protecting students’ rights and personal privacy.
• Creating opportunities for graduate study that will improve K-12 education.
• Strengthening international and foreign language studies programs for the post-9/11 era.
• Improving teacher training by increasing accountability.
• Strengthening higher education opportunities for military personnel.
• Promoting financial and economic literacy.
• Strengthening U.S. competitiveness through math and science programs.