Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act

Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act - Congress has already begun the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), the legislation that governs federal student and institutional aid. Bills dealing with graduate education (H.R. 3076) and international education (H.R. 3077) have passed the House with broad, bipartisan support. A much more controversial bill currently awaits action in the House: Rep. Buck McKeon's (R-CA) Affordability in Higher Education Act (H.R. 3311). This legislation would institute a price index for tuitions and provide for sanctions against schools that raise their tuition above that index over a certain period of time, including the loss of campus-based federal aid. Democrats, the higher education community, and even many Republicans have expressed opposition to this legislation. House and Senate Democrats have both introduced alternative bills that deal with tuition increases in less punitive ways, but Senate Republicans have yet to take action on HEA reauthorization. The UH System will join with the higher education community to ensure that the HEA reauthorization is a step forward, not backward, for U.S. higher education.