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Category: College Costs

Rep. Ryan Anti-Poverty Plan and Higher Education

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On Thursday, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced what he is calling  a new anti-poverty plan that proposes sweeping changes to the safety net through a state-led pilot program. Announced at the the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Ryan’s plan calls for streamlining the student-aid system, capping federal loans to parents and graduate students, a database for tracking recipients of federal aid, and further consolidation of federal job-training programs.

Big focus points that impact higher education include:

  • Simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
  • Modernize and reform the Pell program.
  •  Cap federal loans to graduate students and parents.
  • Consider reforms to the TRIO programs.
  • Expand funding for federal Work-Study programs.
  • Build stronger partnerships with post-secondary institutions.
  • Reform the accreditation process.

Some of the proposals in Thursday’s plan mirror ideas in the House Republican road map for reauthorization, including replacing the current patchwork of federal student-aid programs with one grant, one loan, and one work-study program. Both plans would make Pell Grants available year-round, creating “flex” funds that students could draw from until they graduated or exhausted their eligibility for aid. Also, both would remake federal college-access programs, with Mr. Ryan’s plan suggesting a single program.

But the Ryan plan offers more specifics than does the House Republican list, particularly when it comes to accreditation. His plan would make it easier for new accreditors to gain federal approval and would allow accreditors to recognize specific courses, not just colleges or programs.

The plan also calls for the creation of a “Commission on Evidence-Based Policy Making” that would explore whether, and how, to create a federal clearinghouse that could link anonymous participants across programs to provide a more complete picture of their effectiveness. The clearinghouse might also contain state, local, and educational data sets, like National Student Clearinghouse.

As this proposal and others continue to be introduced and move through Congress, the Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor and update this issue.

House Passes Series of Student-focused Bills

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The House considered a series of higher education bills this week designed to increase transparency and education for student in how to pay for college.

On Wednesday, the House passed the Advancing Competency-Based Education Demonstration Project Act (H.R. 3136) sponsored by Representative Matt Salmon (R-AZ), Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Jared Polis (D-CO). The bill would:

  • Promotes innovation in higher education by directing the secretary of education to implement competency-based education demonstration projects.
  • Provides accountability by requiring an annual evaluation of each demonstration project to determine program quality.
  • Delivers greater flexibility to institutions that want to provide students a more personalized, cost-effective education.

H.R. 3136 passed the House by a vote of 414 to 0. To learn more about the bill, click here. 

On Thursday, the House considered H.R. 4984 – Empowering Students Through Enhanced Counseling Act, which would change the requirements for the counseling of students who participate in the federal student aid programs, such as federal student loans and Pell grants.   This bill expands the counseling requirements for borrowers (yearly) and includes counseling on Pell eligibility. This Pell counseling provision may have been spurred with the proposed flex Pell system, allowing year-round Pell,  as outlined in the House Education and Workforce Committee principles document. The measure would promote financial literacy counseling for students so they have more information before making financial aid choices.It would:

  • Require the secretary of education to create a consumer-tested College Dashboard that would display key information students need when deciding which school to attend.
  • Instruct the secretary to provide a link to the page of each institution listed on a student’s FAFSA to make sure students know this information is available.
  • Streamline and eliminates unnecessary information and federal transparency initiatives.

Rep. Derek Kilmer offered and amendment to the measure which would ensure each individual is aware of financial management resources provided by the Treasury Department’s Financial Literacy and Education Commission. The amendment was adopted by a vote of  404 – 14 

H.R. 4983 passed the House by voice vote. 

Student Loan Interest Rates Rise

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Annual student loan interest rates increase tomorrow, July 1st. This represents the first full year loan rates will be tied to the 10-year Treasury note under the deal struck by Congress last summer. Rates will rise from 3.86 to 4.66 percent for undergraduate Stafford loans, 5.41 to 6.21 percent for graduate Stafford loans and 6.41 to 7.21 percent for parent and graduate PLUS Loans. The maximum Pell Grant will also increase tomorrow by $85 to $5,730. The Institute for College Access and Success offers a helpful fact sheet breaking down the changes.

House Ed and Workforce Introduce Multiple HEA-focused Bills

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Today, the House Education and Workforce introduced several bills to reauthorize the HEA. Earlier this year, the House announced it would take a piecemeal approach to reauthorization rather than a single, large bill.

The committee reiterated this strategy and outlined a number of principles that will guide its HEA reauthorization process in its white paper released earlier this week. House priorities include: simplifying and improving student aid and empowering students and families to make informed decisions. The legislation introduced today includes:

  • Simplifying the Application for Student Aid Act. Introduced by Reps. Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Mike Kelly (R-PA), John Tierney (D-MA), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Jared Polis (D-CO), and Ed Royce (R-CA), H.R. 4982 will reform the federal student aid process to help students make timely financial decisions about their education. To learn more about the legislation, click here.
  • Strengthening Transparency in Higher Education Act. Introduced by Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN), H.R. 4983 will help students gain access to the facts they need to make an informed decision about their education. To learn more about the legislation, click here.
  • Empowering Students through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act. Introduced by Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Richard Hudson (R-NC), H.R. 4984 will promote financial literacy through enhanced counseling for all recipients of federal financial aid. To learn more about the legislation, click here.

Higher Ed Legislation Advances

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Today Senate HELP Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) will introduce his plan to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The Higher Education Affordability Act focuses on four goals: Increasing college affordability, helping struggling borrowers, strengthening accountability, and improving transparency. These goals will be achieved through 21 action points, including tightening for-profit regulations, better accountability metrics for colleges and universities, and a reduction in loan borrower fees.

The Harkin proposal overlaps ever so slightly with goals outlined yesterday by Congressman John Kline (R-MN) and House Education & the Workforce Committee Republicans. Kline plans to introduce the first of a series of HEA-related bills, which will revolve around transparency, accountability, a simplified aid system, and limited federal regulation. We expect to see this bill later in the week.

Also today, the Senate will take up the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which would modernize the workforce education system in the U.S. Democratic Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and GOP Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) both spent years negotiating the long overdue reauthorization. Lawmakers will consider the bill under a unanimous consent agreement. This is the first significant step in years toward reauthorization.

And finally, House Ways and Means Committee will mark up today a pair of bills addressing the child tax credit and education tax credits.The education tax bill would streamline a laundry list of credits and expand and make permanent the existing American Opportunity Tax Credit. The Child Tax Credit bill, introduced Monday by Congresswomen Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), would expand the number of individuals and families who can access the credit by increasing the income threshold from $110,000 to $150,000 for joint filers.