02.07.19

By:  Emily Wilkins
Source: Bloomberg Law

Democrats Insist Higher Education Bill Must Be All or Nothing

A new higher education law must be comprehensive, a key House lawmaker said, setting up a potential roadblock for narrower legislation his Senate counterpart has floated as an option.

“The opportunity to reauthorize the Higher Education Act comes only once a decade,” House Education and Labor Chairman Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said Thursday. “We cannot waste this moment by passing a bill that only changes higher education at the margins,” he said at an Inside Higher Education event.

Current law (Public Law 110-315) oversees $120 billion in annual federal aid and how borrowers repay $1.5 trillion in student loans.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander(R-Tenn.) wants to see new, comprehensive higher education legislation by the end of the year. However, he said in a speech this week that if his panel can’t agree on a sweeping bill, he’d be willing to move forward on individual issues where there is bipartisan support.

Debt, College Cost, Sexual Assault Top Senate Chairman’s Agenda

Among the sticking points are how colleges should handle campus sexual assault allegations and the shape of regulations on for-profit colleges. Many higher education experts are skeptical a large bill can get done.

Senate Dynamics

Scott isn’t alone in calling for all or nothing. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the ranking member on Alexander’s committee, has said any higher education reauthorization should include provisions on how colleges should handle sexual assaults and hazing on campus.

Scott and Murray also have emphasized offering more aid to students. Scott introduced legislation last year that would allow students the option to attend college debt-free and provide tuition-free community college though partnerships with states.

The clock is ticking for Alexander, a former education secretary who will retire after 2020. One of his biggest priorities is simplifying the form students must use to apply for grants and loans they need to attend college