Fact Sheet:

The College Access & Opportunity Act (H.R. 609)

March 20, 2006

The College Access & Opportunity Act (H.R. 609) will strengthen and improve the nation’s higher education system by expanding college access for low- and middle-income students. The bill will reauthorize discretionary programs of the Higher Education Act (HEA), including the student aid programs in Title IV, teacher training programs, graduate study, international and foreign language programs, and institutional programs. The Deficit Reduction Act (S. 1932), signed into law by President Bush in February 2006, reauthorized mandatory spending programs under the Higher Education Act and included protections for taxpayers coupled with key benefits for students. The bill generated billions in savings to help reduce the federal deficit while directing significant resources to expand college access.

The College Access & Opportunity Act will expand access to higher education for millions of low- and middle-income students by:

Strengthening Pell Grants, student aid, student access, and minority serving institutions.
Reducing red tape for students and graduates.
Removing barriers for non-traditional students.
Empowering consumers through “sunshine” and transparency in college costs & accreditation.

STRENGTHENING PELL GRANTS, STUDENT ACCESS, & MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTIONS

The College Access & Opportunity Act will:

Provide extra Pell Grant aid for high-achieving first and second-year students. To help lower income students adjust to college without being forced to take on additional financial burdens and encourage students to pursue a more rigorous high school curriculum that will prepare them for college, President Bush and House Republicans would provide extra Pell Grant aid – over and above the current maximum award – to lower income first- and second-year students through a proposal dubbed “Pell Grants Plus.” See the summary of H.R. 511, the Pell Grants Plus Act, introduced by Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL).

Provide year-round Pell Grant aid for students attending school throughout the year, and encourage students to make progress toward degree completion. The bill will provide year-round Pell Grant funding for students accelerating their coursework, and encourage students to complete their studies in a timely fashion by limiting Pell Grant eligibility to 18 semesters, or 27 quarters.

Remove an incentive for colleges to raise tuition by repealing Pell Grant “tuition sensitivity.” A current federal rule needlessly limits the amount of Pell Grant aid a student attending a very low-cost institution can receive. In addition to hurting students at such schools, this rule unintentionally creates an incentive for colleges and states to increase tuition. The bill will repeal the tuition sensitivity requirement.

Simplify the financial aid process for needy students and families. The Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance recently recommended a series of reforms to make it easier for the neediest students to participate in federal student aid programs by simplifying and expanding eligibility for use of the “simplified needs test” to determine how much aid a family qualifies to receive. In addition, the Advisory Committee recommended that a special effort be made to notify students and parents who qualify for free lunch, food stamps, or other means-tested programs of their potential eligibility for a maximum Pell Grant. Republicans will work to implement these and some of the other recommendations.

Strengthen federal college access programs (TRIO and GEAR UP). The bill will reauthorize and strengthen federal college access programs for low- and middle-income students, including TRIO and GEAR UP. These programs have received record funding increases under Republicans: for FY 2005, TRIO is receiving $836.5 million in federal appropriations, and GEAR UP is receiving $306.5 million. The bill increases the minimum grant levels for TRIO programs; provides more flexibility for institutions to serve different populations at multiple campuses; ensures veterans are eligible to participate in all TRIO programs and services; and ensures the unique needs of low-income working adults can be successfully addressed through these programs. The bill will establish TRIO program performance measures, which will foster increased competition and allow quality TRIO programs to demonstrate and be rewarded for their success. The College Access & Opportunity Act also clarifies that GEAR UP grants are provided for six years, ensuring services for students are not cut short, and allows GEAR UP funds to be used to help students make the transition from high school to college.

Strengthen minority serving institutions. Minority serving institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Historically Black Graduate Institutions (HBGIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) play a key role in providing access to higher education for American students. The College Access & Opportunity Act will reauthorize and strengthen these programs, which are receiving historic levels of federal funding under President George W. Bush. H.R. 609 will establish a graduate program for Hispanic Serving Institutions, similar to the existing HBGI graduate-level program, in recognition of the changing needs of Hispanic Serving Institutions, which serve a growing population of U.S. students. The bill will make it easier for minority serving institutions to use technology to improve education by providing such schools with the flexibility to use federal funds to develop or improve facilities for Internet use or other distance learning capabilities. By giving minority institutions the freedom they are seeking to use their funds to acquire technology, the bill will encourage innovation and new opportunities for student learning. The College Access & Opportunity Act will also increase the minimum grant for HBCUs and simplify the grant application process for Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities. The bill will also reduce red tape for HSIs by eliminating the two-year lapse between grant applications Hispanic Serving Institutions are forced to contend with under current law. Finally, the bill will permit all minority serving institutions to use grant funds to establish and build endowments, ensuring these institutions can continue to serve their students now and into the future.

REDUCING RED TAPE FOR STUDENTS & GRADUATES

The College Access & Opportunity Act will:

Allow consumers to shop for the best deals on consolidation loans by eliminating the “single-holder” rule. The bill will enhance the benefits of the federal consolidation loan program by repealing a federal rule that limits consumers’ ability to shop for the best deal for a consolidation loan. The bill will repeal the “single holder” rule, which limits consumers’ ability to consolidate with the lender of their choice by requiring consumers who have all of their loans held by a single lender to consolidate with that lender, even if they could obtain better terms and service elsewhere. Borrowers will now have the ability to shop around with other lenders for the best terms and services, while ensuring the original holder of their loans can and must compete to retain the loan.

Protect borrowers’ credit history by requiring lenders to report to all national credit bureaus. For many students and graduates, consecutive on-time monthly student loan payments can help to build a strong credit history. A strong student loan repayment history can help borrowers qualify for lower-cost financing options, improved benefits, and even a first mortgage for college graduates who dream of owning a home. The bill will require lenders to report to all national credit bureaus to ensure students and graduates will be able to take full advantage of the good credit history they have earned through repayment of their federal student loans.

Provide additional consumer protection information to borrowers regarding consolidation loans. The bill will require that borrowers be provided with comprehensive information about total interest they will be paying, the repayment terms they are agreeing to, the benefits they will be eligible for, and other important consumer disclosures. To help borrowers stay out of default, the bill will require that borrowers be given access to financial and economic educational materials.

REMOVING BARRIERS FOR NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENTS

For many non-traditional college students, alternative postsecondary education options such as community colleges, degree granting or certificate programs, proprietary schools, and distance learning programs provide an important alternative gateway to a college education. The College Access & Opportunity Act will:

Protect low-income and non-traditional students by ensuring student aid isn’t jeopardized by burdensome “90/10” rule. Current law requires proprietary schools to demonstrate that at least 10 percent of their revenue is derived from sources other than federal student aid funds. While non-compliance with this rule is rare, the consequences of the rule are imposed most harshly on students with financial need – even a fraction of a percentage outside this ratio results in immediate loss of federal aid for students. To protect students, the bill will place the 90/10 rule among the student aid program participation requirements for all institutions of higher education. This will ensure student aid is not immediately jeopardized by 90/10 enforcement, and that the rule will be applied equally to all sectors of higher education. The bill will also clarify how the 90/10 ratio is defined to better reflect the impact of institutional and other non-federal revenue sources.

Ensure fair recognition for institutions of higher education. The bill will update technical legal definitions within the Higher Education Act to ensure all eligible institutions are recognized fully as institutions of higher education. The current dual definition results in a tiered system that implies some institutions are less than others, or may not have the same standing as part of our nation’s higher education system when it comes to providing opportunities to students. The bill will simply combine the two current institutional definitions into one single, straightforward definition while ensuring funds historically awarded to community colleges and minority serving institutions are preserved for these types of institutions. The bill also clarifies that outside of the Higher Education Act, proprietary institutions will not automatically gain eligibility for program participation, but policymakers will determine on a case-by-case basis which sectors are eligible to receive federal funds.

Remove barriers that may prevent home-schooled students from pursuing higher education. The College Access & Opportunity Act will ensure colleges and universities are able to enroll students who have been home-schooled without losing eligibility for participation in federal student aid programs, and will clarify that home-schooled students are eligible to enroll in a college or university.

EMPOWERING PARENTS & STUDENTS THROUGH “SUNSHINE” IN COSTS & ACCREDITATION

The College Access & Opportunity Act will:

Give consumers more information about what they’re getting for their money. Colleges are currently required to report a significant amount of data to the federal government, but the information is not available to students and parents in an easy-to-use format. The bill charges the U.S. Department of Education with redesigning the College Opportunities Online (COOL) web tool to be easier to use, and provide more meaningful data to consumers. As part of that effort, the Department will make use of the information being reported to create “College Consumer Profiles” for individual colleges and universities, and make this information available to the public in a readable, understandable, consistent, and clear format. College Consumer Profiles will contain valuable information such as the school’s mission, student demographics, accreditation, student/faculty ratios, faculty qualifications, costs, student services, credit transfer policies, graduation rates, and placement rates.

Shine a spotlight on excessive tuition hikes. The bill will publicly identify federally-funded institutions that repeatedly engage in excessive tuition hikes, giving consumers an index they can use to track tuition increases and make more informed decisions in their college spending. Institutions that increase tuition and fees at more than twice the rate of inflation over a three-year interval will be publicly identified, as originally proposed by Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) in 2003. These institutions will be asked to provide information to the public about the causes of tuition increases, as well as strategies that will be used to help hold down tuition in the future.

Make accrediting agencies more accountable by making information more public. A 2002 study by the American Council of Trustees & Alumni (ACTA) found many accrediting entities do a poor job of maintaining academic quality and holding down costs. And for accrediting agencies doing a good job, the public has access to far too little information about what accreditation is, and what the process entails. Accrediting agencies are currently required under federal law to provide limited information about their activities to the public, but only upon request. The bill will make the accreditation process more transparent by giving students, parents, and the general public more direct access to such information, helping to ensure they know what they’re getting for their money. The bill will help to ensure policies, actions, and activities by accrediting entities are publicly disclosed.

Make transfer of credit policies public. With recent data showing more than 50 percent of students attend multiple institutions of higher education, it has become increasingly important for students to have the flexibility to transfer their credits from one school to another, and the ability to plan ahead for this process. To make it more difficult for academic credits earned by students to be wrongly denied for territorial or political reasons, the bill will simply require institutions to have a transfer of credit policy, make that policy public, and follow that policy. The College Access & Opportunity Act would also ensure credits are not unfairly and arbitrarily denied based solely on the accreditor of a college or university where the credits being transferred were earned, so long as the accreditor is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

The College Access & Opportunity Act will:

Protect students’ rights and personal privacy. The bill will strengthen protections for student speech and association rights to promote academic freedom and foster intellectual pluralism. The protections, modeled on the concept of an Academic Bill of Rights, reflect a consensus reached with the higher education community and advocates for student speech rights who agree that college campuses should be a place for a free exchange of ideas, and students should not be discriminated against based on political perspective or ideology. The bill will also protect individual students’ privacy rights by prohibiting the creation of a “unit record” system, a massive federal database that could collect and maintain personal, individually identifiable data about all students enrolled in postsecondary education.

Create opportunities for graduate study that will improve K-12 education. Experts have testified repeatedly that a lack of faculty to train high-demand subject areas including math, science, and special education is contributing to a shortage of teachers at the K-12 level. Republicans would expand opportunities for graduate study in these subject areas, thereby fortifying the pipeline of highly qualified teachers. See the summary of H.R. 510, the Graduate Opportunities in Higher Education Act, introduced by Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH).

Strengthen international and foreign language studies programs for the post-9/11 era. Since the tragedy of September 11, international knowledge and foreign language proficiency have become more important than ever before to America’s security and prosperity. Colleges and universities across America train students in these important areas through federal programs that work to advance knowledge of world regions, encourage the study of foreign languages, and train Americans to have the international expertise and understanding to fulfill pressing national security needs. Republicans recognize the importance of these programs, and would work to strengthen international and foreign language study opportunities for students while ensuring the programs are effectively training students in these vital areas. See the summary of H.R. 509, the International Studies in Higher Education Act, introduced by Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH).

Improve teacher training by increasing accountability. The No Child Left Behind Act, the bipartisan K-12 education reform law enacted in 2002, calls for a highly qualified teacher in every public school classroom by the 2005-2006 school year. To help states and schools fulfill this goal, the bill will strengthen and improve teacher training programs by aligning teacher training with NCLB, increasing accountability to prevent “gaming” of the system that hurts prospective teachers and schools, enhancing teacher recruitment opportunities, and using innovative strategies like “charter colleges of education” to increase opportunities for teachers to become highly qualified. The bill will also establish a Teacher Incentive Fund to help states and local school districts develop and implement pay-for-performance systems that will reward teachers and principals who demonstrate success in improving student academic achievement.

Strengthen higher education opportunities for military personnel. The legislation will ensure the eligibility of all veterans to participate in the TRIO college access programs. This builds on important education benefits for military personnel enacted in February 2006 under the Deficit Reduction Act. That measure provided that active duty members of the military may receive loan deferment – meaning payments are not required and interest will not accrue – when serving the nation. Additionally, the legislation allows active duty members of the military to be treated as independent students, which could allow access to greater financial aid opportunities.

Promote financial and economic literacy. Throughout the bill, program uses of funds will be expanded to include education or counseling designed to improve the financial and economic literacy of students and, where appropriate, their parents.

Reduce red tape for schools. As included in the bipartisan FED UP reform legislation from 2002 – reintroduced in the 108th Congress, and again in the 109th as H.R. 508 – the bill will contain a number of provisions making technical corrections and improvements to current law as requested by American colleges and universities through the FED UP project, an initiative led by Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) and the late Rep. Patsy Mink (D-HI) that allowed school officials and students to submit recommendations over the Internet for reducing federal red tape and making common-sense changes to current higher education law.

Expand loan relief for nurses, educators, and other professionals in areas of national need. The College Access & Opportunity Act will establish loan relief opportunities of up to $5,000 for nurses, early childhood educators, and other professionals serving in fields with demonstrated national need. This builds on the loan relief provided by the Deficit Reduction Act, which was enacted in February 2006. That legislation tripled the amount of loan relief for highly qualified math, science, and special education teachers who commit to teaching in high-need K-12 schools for five years. The maximum federal loan forgiveness for such teachers increased from $5,000 to $17,500.

Strengthen U.S. competitiveness through math and science programs. The measure will provide scholarships for students pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in science, mathematics, or engineering. It also will assist states in establishing coordinating councils to implement state-based mathematics and science education policies.

Repeal duplicative, expired, and/or unnecessary programs. The bill will repeal nine current programs previously authorized under the Higher Education Act that are duplicative and/or unnecessary or have expired and are no longer needed. A number of expired provisions in current law will also be repealed.