EDUCAUSE Signs ACE Letter on Higher Education Act (HEA)- Vote Expected Today!

The Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization is expected to receive full floor consideration today in Congress. In anticipation of that, EDUCAUSE has joined the American Council on Education and other organizations in sending a letter to lawmakers.

Here is the text:

As you prepare to vote on the conference report to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, I write on behalf of the associations listed below to share our perspectives on this important legislation.

We applaud the provisions in this bill that will help low-income students finance higher education.  The bill simplifies the process of applying for student aid and strengthens essential student aid programs that help low-income students, including Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Perkins Loans, Federal Work-Study, Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships (LEAP), TRIO and GEAR-UP.  We are especially pleased that the bill affirms that the Department of Education cannot regulate the academic standards of accrediting agencies or institutions of higher education.  In tandem with the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, which cut interest rates, boosted Pell grants and increased federal loan limits, these provisions will make a substantial difference to students, families and institutions. 

While this long and complex bill has a number of very desirable provisions, it also has a number of drawbacks.  Most notably, it will create an extraordinary number of new reporting and regulatory federal requirements dealing with textbooks, tuition and fees, cost of attendance, alumni activities, foreign gift reporting, fire safety, graduation rates, drug violations, vaccines, and peer to peer file sharing.  Although some of these have been made less onerous as the legislative process has proceeded, the total volume of new federal requirements remains considerable.  

The bill before you places a particular emphasis on enacting incentives to encourage colleges to hold down tuition charges, an endeavor in which our member institutions are actively engaged.  Competing with that goal, however, are the numerous unfunded mandates that will be imposed on colleges and universities.   Complying with these requirements will be time-consuming and inevitably will increase administrative and personnel costs on campuses.  

The Higher Education Act has played a vital role in helping millions of students realize their dream of a college education and the Congress needs to reauthorize this important act.  Colleges and universities remain deeply committed to increasing college access for low-income students and continue to strongly support the partnership with the federal government that has done so much to open college doors over the last half-century.  We look forward to working with Congress and the Department of Education to ensure that this partnership is maintained throughout the implementation process.

(END OF LETTER)

EDUCAUSE will be closely tracking today's events in Congress, and providing analysis on the legislation in the near future. Check back with our web site for updates.