Federal legislative representatives
and members of the University community have an opportunity to give the Higher
Education Act a facelift during the coming congressional session.
The Higher Education Act of 1965 is a piece of federal legislation that governs almost
all national higher education programs.
Congress updates and renews the act every five to seven years.
The act was considered in the last
several congressional terms, but Rep.
David Wu, D-Ore., a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said in a press release Wednesday that
Congress will be reauthorizing the higher
education act this session. Because of his presence on the committee, the congressman will be directly involved in the process.
Wu will announce his education plan
Friday at a press conference at Portland State University. According to documents given to the Emerald by a Wu representative, the
plan includes seven bills authored by the
congressman: The Student Loan Interest Full Deductibility Act, The Earning and Learning Act, The Student Loan Interest Fairness
Act, The Higher Education Act Paperwork
Reduction and Flexibility Bill, a Pell Grant bill, a community college partnership bill and a college textbook pricing bill.
The legislation’s intention is to help
increase accessibility to higher education
by making financial aid more flexible and
by decreasing the burden of college debt,
according to the press release. The bills will correspond with the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
Wu’s plan contains financial aid improvements for students. The
Pell Grant bill would increase
the funding for the grants from $4,050 to $5,800. The Student Loan Interest Full Deductibility Act allows eligible taxpayers to deduct the
full amount of student loan
interest rather than the existing $2,500. It would also eliminate
the deduction’s current $50,000 per year income limit.
In addition, Wu’s college
textbook pricing bill would require the Government Accountability
Office to investigate the price
differentiation between textbooks sold in the United States and
overseas. He promised to work on legislation taking the GAO’s findings into account.
Members of the University
community will also be lobbying for changes they want to see in the Higher Education Act.
“Reauthorization is an opportunity to improve and strengthen
financial aid laws,” University
Federal Affairs Director Betsy Boyd said. “The value of the Pell Grant has in no way kept up with inflation or the cost of tuition.”
Affordability and access for needy students are at the top of the University’s priority list, Boyd said.
“The UO has a duty to make sure that the Oregon delegation know how it’s affected by this law,”
she said. “We can provide local
examples; we put the Oregon
face on what these programs do
to Oregonians.”
Boyd said the state’s delegation has been very supportive of higher education, especially Pell Grants.
“You’d be hard pressed to find a member of Congress who doesn’t want constituents to have access to higher ed,” she said.
The University works with organizations such as the Association of American Universities and the
National Association of State
Universities and Land-Grant Colleges to ensure that its voice is heard
in Washington.
It’s important to have the
full weight of many universities standing behind legislative issues, Boyd said.
There are some possibilities
for the act the University would like to avoid.
If the federal government tried to change the accreditation process or increase oversight on the tuition pricing process, the act would
put the University and other
state colleges at a disadvantage, Boyd said.
“If you’re going to get a
reauthorization that undermines what was accomplished in previous years, that’s a problem,” she said.
The ASUO will be lobbying for
student-friendly changes through the United States Student Association. ASUO Federal Affairs Coordinator Ashley Rees, a USSA representative, is optimistic the reauthorization
will be passed in the current
congressional session.
“We want to make sure student voices are heard in the prioritization of these programs,” Rees said.
Student leaders will be working with both of Oregon’s senators
and Rep. Peter DeFazio to push
their priorities.
USSA’s legislative priorities
include the elimination of origination fees and insurance premiums on
financial aid loans, expansion of loan forgiveness and strengthening grant support. The student organization also hopes to erase the act’s provision that disqualifies students from
receiving financial aid if they have been convicted for a drug violation.
“Mostly, our efforts are on
preserving the programs that we have,” Rees said.

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