Higher Education Act reauthorized

Issues in Science and Technology, Fall 2008

After six years of work and stalemate, Congress in late July finally reauthorized the Higher Education Opportunity Act, a cornerstone piece of legislation with the primary function of authorizing spending for a variety of higher education financial aid programs. President Bush signed fhe bill on August 14.

Although the bill contains provisions supported by the education community, including financial aid for low-income students, it also includes a number of new reporting requirements that higher education institutions opposed because they would increase administrative costs.

The bill will increase Pell grants to low-income students to $8,000 a year (up from $5,800) by 2014 and will allow part-time students to use the grants for a full calendar year. It includes a program that forgives up to $10,000 in loans for students enrolling in high-needs areas. Eligible fields include nursing, child welfare, applied science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Some of the new reporting requirements that higher-education groups expressed concerns about involve rising tuition rates. According to the bill, universities and colleges that increase tuition or fees by a significant percentage must submit a report to the Department of Education explaining the rationale behind the increase and any measures it plans to implement to reduce costs.

Another example of a new reporting requirement addresses peer-to-peer ile sharing - of music, for example. Each institution must certify to the department that it has created plans for combating illegal file sharing, describe if it plans to implement technologies to deter such practices, and to the extent practicable offer students alternative legal mechanisms for sharing files.

One aspect of the reauthorization that the higher-education community was pleased to see- but is not embraced by the Bush administration - is language that prohibits the Department of Education from setting standards for accreditation, a task normally done by independent accrediting agencies. The issue of the federal government's role in accreditation initially arose with the release of a report by the department's Commission on the Future of Higher Education. After the commission questioned the quality of university education, the department floated the idea of inserting control over the accreditation process as a means to impose change and increase accountability.

Currently, the accreditation process is a peer-review system managed primarily through independent, private organizations. Needless to say, neither universities nor fhe independent accreditation groups embraced the notion of the government determining standards for higher education. In a statement issued in February, the White House expressed opposition to language that "would restrict fhe Department of Education's authority to regulate on accreditation."