Change student-aid structure in Higher Education Act

This week I hope President Bush will sign into law a key Republican higher education priority — an increase in the maximum Pell grant from $4,300 to $5,400. We accomplished this historic feat recently when we passed a reconciliation conference report, which I strongly supported, and which took important steps to increase assistance for students seeking a college degree.

However, the reconciliation bill is only a Band-Aid without the important, bipartisan reforms included in the Higher Education Act reauthorization bill. It does nothing to address the quality and substance of important federal higher education programs. The American success story of higher education is at risk of losing the very qualities that made it great — competition, innovation and access for all. Our challenge now is to make higher education more accessible, affordable and accountable, and to do that we must reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). By only dealing with one bill, Congress is not meeting this challenge head on. We are leaving the job undone.

In July, the Senate considered higher education budget reconciliation and reauthorization bills together. Both bills passed with strong bipartisan support because we not only achieved savings and boosted student aid through the bill, but we also ensured the quality and effectiveness of our federal student aid programs through comprehensive reauthorization. Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the rest of the House of Representatives’ Democratic leadership continue to drag their feet on the larger higher education reauthorization package. In doing so, they are selling America’s students and their families short.

Higher education is the onramp to success in the global economy, and it is our responsibility to make sure that everyone can access that opportunity and reach their goals. We need to make sure that individuals have all the tools they need to understand and shape their future. The reconciliation bill provides some important tools, but not nearly enough to complete the job.

The HEA reauthorization bill, S.1642, will provide better college cost information to help parents and students make sound choices, allow year-round Pell grants and simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid so students aren’t discouraged from applying for student aid.

The reauthorization bill passed in the Senate by a 95-0 count. It contains important reforms and accountability provisions to address the problems that have come to light in the loan programs — the bad actors with conflicts of interest, the lack of useful, necessary information to enable borrowers to make informed decisions about loan provisions and repayment, and the need for better controls over access to the National Student Loan Data System so borrowers’ privacy is protected. The bill would root out the bad actors in the student loan industry, protect students and families who are borrowing money for college and ensure that students and parents receive sound, honest advice about their student loans.

America’s ability to compete in a global economy depends on increasing the number of students entering and completing college. But of the 75 percent of high school seniors who continue their studies, only 50 percent of them receive a degree in five years after enrolling in college, and only 25 percent of them receive a bachelor’s degree or higher.

These numbers are even worse for students from low-income families. It is important to ensure that more students enroll in college prepared to learn, and that more students have the support they need to complete college with the knowledge and skills to be successful. It’s the reauthorization bill that has all the support programs for first-generation and low-income students, and the institutional support programs for minority-serving institutions.

For years, institutions of higher education and employers have expressed their dissatisfaction about the fact that our high school graduates need remediation in order to do college-level work or to participate in the workforce. Each year taxpayers pay an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion to provide remedial education to students at our public universities and community colleges.

What will help this situation? It is the reauthorization bill that has partnership programs to support teacher preparation so that all children have qualified teachers to guide their learning experiences.

HEA expired in September 2004, and has since been extended eight times, but it needs changes, not just extensions. America’s students and families deserve better. It’s time for Congress to stop kicking the can down the road, and deliver the improvements and reforms that America’s students need. If the House of Representatives does not act now to reauthorize HEA, students and working families will give us an “incomplete” on one of our most important assignments.

Enzi is the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Special Section: Education
Unkept promises of NCLB expose the need for reform
Change student-aid structure in Higher Education Act
Healthy minds need healthy bodies
Children in foster care cannot be allowed to fall through cracks in education system
No Child Left Behind reform that we can all support
Investing in young children delivers valuable dividends
Students benefit a lot by doing community service
Encouraging unique paths to success: Enhancing NCLB
H.R. 2904 propels charter schools
High schools in crisis
Apply Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education effectively