With the cost of attending college climbing across the
nation, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working rapidly to renew the Higher
Education Act with the hope of promising students affordable loans and
trustworthy information about the cost of attending college.
Originally created in 1965, the HEA secured federal money
for institutions of higher education, created low-interest student loan
programs and funded scholarships.
Though the HEA has yet to be updated, Congress has
collectively agreed that the act’s next renewal should be aggressive toward
monitoring the student loan industry and the price inflations at the nation’s
institutions of higher learning.
One of the major attempts that the House of Representatives
took toward hefty regulation was with H.R. 4137, known as the College
Opportunity and Affordability Act.
Approved 354 to 58 on Feb. 7, the bill spearheads an
aggressive renewal of the HEA by proposing to make colleges accountable for
their cost increases, provide students and parents with accurate textbook-cost
information and make the paperwork for applying for financial aid easier, among
other provisions.
The Senate voted unanimously to approve a similar bill in
July 2007. Since then, the two bodies have attempted to produce a compromise,
headed by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.), as well
as Reps. George Buck (D-Calif.) and Howard McKeon (R-Calif.).
Until recently, both houses of Congress were working to
finalize a compromise renewal of the HEA before Memorial Day. However, due to
Kennedy’s recent medical problems, the race to finish the compromise has been
put on hold.
Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), who serves most of the city of
Diego
Committee, expressed issues related to her constituents during the
bill-drafting process.
According to
press secretary, Aaron Hunter, one of her main concerns is providing students
with federal-aid benefits during natural disaster situations, such as the
California
“Susan wants to ensure that students receive work study at
times when it is needed and they cannot work,” Hunter said. “She also wants to cease interest collection
on military students on active duty.”
One of the provisions of the House bill proposes rigorous
financial monitoring of institutions of higher education that have raised their
tuition costs, something that has been seen in the University of California
throughout the past decade.
Under the COAA, 5 percent of institutions in each category
(private, public, two-year, four-year, etc.) that raise their costs by the
highest percentage in three years would be required to create “quality
efficiency task forces” to investigate the fee hikes.
Carolyn Henrich, legislative director to the
of
of Columbia
components — called “accountability provisions” — are only going to confuse
families and students further.
“Though Congress’ intentions are good, I think they are to
going to provide too much information to families who want a simpler way to get
accurate data about the colleges their children are applying to,” Henrich said.
Tristie A. Ross, a UCSD graduate student, said she believes
that universities are making matters more complicated by raising costs without
student consent.
“When students choose to come to a college, it should be
like signing a contract —whatever price or education that was agreed upon
should be set in stone,” Ross said. “Inflating tuition costs is not going to
make it any better for the universities or the students when the students can
no longer attend.”
Pending legislation in the House would require colleges to
give accurate estimates of their costs over the academic year. Textbook
companies would have to provide their ISBN numbers and price listings to
students, and would be discouraged from bundling CDs and DVDs along with them.
