Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act

Both the U.S. House and Senate are in recess until after the Labor Day holiday. In order to meet the deadline for budget reconciliation (which limits spending), both the House and Senate plan on acting on the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act by September 16. The reauthorization process includes setting the limits for appropriations for specific programs as well as legislating their continuation.

The Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act includes many provisions of central interest to the University, but none more important than the provisions that relate to student aid. The House Education and Workforce Committee which has the initial oversight for Reauthorization in the House, has already approved H.R. 609. This measure would remove about $11 billion from federal student loan programs and devote the savings to deficit reduction. On the Senate side, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is committed to begin its markup of the HEA legislation on September 7. The Chair of that Committee has indicated that their committee has targeted $7 billion in savings over five years through changes to student aid programs.

Both houses of Congress indicate their support to ensure the continuation of the Pell Grant, Perkins Loans, Supplemental Educational Opportunities Grant (SEOG), and College Work-Study. Likewise the TRIO and GEAR UP programs are also continued. TRIO programs were established to provide educational opportunity for all Americans regardless of ethnic background or economic circumstances. GEAR UP provides grants to states and partnerships to provide services in high poverty middle and high schools.

However, the cuts passed in Committee on the House side and those being considered on the Senate side may affect the ability of these programs to meet needs of current and future UI students. The budget savings may be achieved by cuts to program funding, by changing the program’s parameters, by revenue raising measures or a combination of all of these.

It is clear that the budget reconciliation process demands some reductions in student loan program costs. However, at the UI we would prefer that some of these savings be returned to student aid programs to provide increased benefits and better terms of repayment options for borrowers rather than be totally devoted to deficit reduction.

The University of Iowa has joined with other institutions and associations to urge that each provision of the Higher Education Act be reauthorized at the highest possible levels to ensure both access to higher education and choice among institutions for students and their families. In the next several months, we will provide additional updates on the progress of these efforts.

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