On October 6, the House approved, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 5185) to extend the Higher Education Act of 1965 through FY2005. At press time, the Senate was expected to approve the measure before adjourning for the Columbus Day holiday.
Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) introduced a bill (H.R. 4283) to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, but the House did not act on the measure. A previous one-year extension of the law expired on September 30.
Rep. Boehner explained that the reauthorization bill “would have strengthened Pell grants, college access programs, and campus-based student aid. It would have broken barriers and eliminated outdated regulations that are preventing nontraditional students from achieving their higher education goals…And because accountability is the cornerstone of education reform, colleges and universities would have been held more accountable to the students, parents, and taxpayers they serve through increased sunshine and transparency. Yet, none of these reforms will be enacted today because partisan politics got in the way of student-focused reforms. The bill before us today is critically important. We cannot allow programs under the Higher Education Act to expire. Too many students depend on this assistance as they strive for a higher education.”
Calling the bill “a missed opportunity,” Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) stated, “If we did reauthorize the Higher Education Act, we could have addressed the critical needs of students, including allowing student borrowers to refinance their consolidation loans and lock in today’s low interest rates. This increases the long-term affordability of college. We could have provided incentives to help colleges hold down increases in tuition. Recent tuition increases have hit American families and students especially hard. We could have allowed working students to keep more of the funding they earn than having it used to calculate their student aid. Unfortunately, today, we are not going to be improving our student aid programs. Instead, we are keeping the status quo.”
