January 9, 2008

• Congressional Update

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Congressional Update

The Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) — Where We Are
It is anticipated that the remainder of the HEA will finally be reauthorized for a five year period during the current second session of the 110th Congress which convenes on January 15, 2008.

The last comprehensive HEA reauthorization was in 1998.

This session has a crowded calendar, shortened timeline, and takes place during a General Election year. While the HEA reauthorization does not rank among the major economic, budget, or war and peace-related issues, the Congress must tackle during the next ten months and which may delay action of the HEA reauthorization, because legislation to reauthorize is already pending, the job should get done in short order.

At this time, there are two bills before the Congress that propose to reauthorize the HEA. The final bill that will be passed by the Congress and signed into law this year will be a compromise bill.

The full Senate passed S. 1642 — The Higher Education Amendments of 2007 — on July 24, 2007 by a 95-0 vote.

The House Committee on Education and Labor approved H.R. 4137 — The College Opportunity and Access Act of 2007 — on November 15, 2007 and reported it favorably to the House of Representatives by a vote of 45-0.

After the full House acts on HR 4137 (probably in February), a conference committee will be appointed consisting of House and Senate members to adjust the differences between the two bills.

While conference committees are appointed to do just this, it is not at all uncommon that conference committees go outside the two bills being conferenced and add provisions not included in either bill.

It is also quite possible that the Congress may decide to engage in another round of budget reconciliation as it did in 2006 and 2007, which may impact the reauthorization process as well.

The following are taken from Committee staff and Congressional Research Service summaries of the two House and Senate-passed bills.

S.1642 — Higher Education Amendments of 2007

Title I: General Provisions

• Adds definitions of a critical foreign language, distance education, and poverty line. Also, provides that critical foreign languages are those contained on the list designated by the Secretary of Education in the Federal Register on August 5, 1985, but allows the Secretary to set language priorities according to the purposes of a specific program and national security, economic competitiveness, and educational needs.
• States that poverty line refers to the poverty line applicable to a family of the size involved.
• Revises the general definition of institution of higher education (IHE) to include schools that: (1) award degrees (not necessarily a bachelor's degree) that are acceptable for admission to a graduate or professional degree program; and (2) public or nonprofit private schools that enroll students who will be dually or concurrently enrolled in a secondary school.
• Revises the definition of IHE for purposes of title IV student assistance programs.
• Requires graduate medical schools located outside the country that qualified as IHEs owing to their having a state-approved clinical training program, to have continuously operated a clinical training program in at least one state that is approved by such state.
• Includes as proprietary IHEs and as postsecondary vocational institutions any schools that enroll students who will be dually or concurrently enrolled in a secondary school.
• Elaborates on the current sense of Congress regarding the speech and association rights of students in higher education to specify that such students should not be intimidated, harassed, discouraged from speaking out, or discriminated against.
• Replaces the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity with an Institutional Quality and Integrity Committee to assess the process of accreditation and the eligibility and certification of such institutions for title IV student assistance programs. Sets September 30, 2012, as the Committee's termination date.
• Requires IHEs' biennial reviews of their alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs to include a determination as to: (1) the number of drug and alcohol-related incidents and fatalities occurring on their property or as part of their activities that are reported to them; and (2) the number and type of sanctions the IHEs impose on students or employees as a result of such incidents or fatalities.
• Extends an authorization of appropriations to continue coverage of prior rights and obligations for servicing outstanding bonds from certain earlier programs under HEA title VII before it was amended by the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 and the Higher Education Amendments of 1998.
• Requires the Commission of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop higher education price indices (HEPIs) that accurately reflect the annual change in tuition and fees for undergraduate students in specified categories of IHEs.
• Directs the Secretary to report annually and share with the public, including private college guidebook publishers, information: (1) ranking IHEs according to their tuition and fee changes; (2) ranking IHEs whose tuition and fees exceed their applicable HEPI, in what are to be known as Higher Education Price Increase Watch Lists; (3) comparing each state's appropriations for public IHEs with changes in the tuition and fees for such schools; and (4) regarding the amount of need- and merit-based aid provided by each state for students in public IHEs.
• Requires the Secretary to develop model net price calculators and, within three years of this Act's enactment, HEA-funded IHEs to adopt and use a net price calculator to help students, families, and consumers determine the net price (tuition minus grants and discounts) of an IHE.
• Requires HEA-funded IHEs to include their most recent net price data in application materials.
• Directs the Secretary to: (1) contract with an independent organization with experience in developing consumer-friendly websites to improve the College Opportunities On-Line (COOL) website so that it better meets the needs of students, families, and consumers for accurate and appropriate IHE information; and (2) develop a model document to be known as the University and College Accountability Network (U-Can) for annually reporting specified basic information about an participating IHE, to be posted on the college information website and made available to IHEs, students, families, and other consumers.
• Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the time and cost burdens to IHEs associated with completing the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
• Prohibits the creation or maintenance of a federal database of personally identifiable student information. States that such prohibition does not apply to existing systems that are necessary for the operation of title II, IV, or VII programs or state databases that track individuals over time.
• Directs the Secretary to: (1) ensure that a link to current student aid information is displayed prominently on the home page of the Department of Education's website; and (2) contract with an independent organization with experience in developing consumer-friendly websites to improve the usefulness and accessibility of the Department's information on college financial planning and student aid.
• Establishes a State Higher Education Information System Pilot program under which the Secretary shall award competitive grants to up to five states, consortia of states, or consortia of IHEs to: (1) design, test, and implement state-level postsecondary student data systems that provide the maximum benefits to states, IHEs, and state policymakers; and (2) examine the costs and burdens involved in implementing such systems.
• Revises requirements for: (1) the performance-based organization for delivery of federal student financial assistance; and (2) procurement flexibility.
• Requires IHEs that enter into educational loan arrangements, under which schools recommend and use a title IV lender in exchange for material benefits, to disclose the name of the lender in loan documentation.
• Requires lenders under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) or Direct Loan (DL) programs to: (1) provide students with specified written information concerning student loan costs, terms, and repayment before furnishing the loan; and (2) report annually to the Secretary on certain reimbursements provided to IHE financial aid employees.
• Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the adequacy of FFEL and DL information provided to borrowers. Requires such report to include a model disclosure form, based on the report's findings, for lender use in providing annual loan information to the Secretary and IHEs with which they have an educational loan arrangement. Requires IHEs to provide the Secretary, prospective borrowers, and the public with the disclosure form information for loans provided by lenders with which they have such an arrangement as well as a detailed explanation of why such loans are beneficial to borrowers.
• Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress regarding the current collection of information on the employment of postsecondary school graduates, and the feasibility and best means of collecting and displaying additional information on the employment of graduates of all types of postsecondary programs.
• Requires that, for graduate medical schools located outside the U.S. or Canada to qualify as IHEs under the FFEL program, beginning on July 1, 2010, at least 75 percent (currently, 60 percent) of the school's former students or graduates taking the examinations administered by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates must pass such examinations.
• Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on American students who receive federal student aid to attend graduate medical schools abroad, including: (1) the amount of such aid; (2) actual and recommended graduate examination pass rates; (3) graduates who return to this country; and (4) their medical practice performance.
• Prohibits IHEs from using federal funds to lobby for federal contracts, grants, loans, cooperative agreements, or earmarks.

Title II: Teacher Quality Enhancement

• Revises and reauthorizes title II part A, Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants for States and Partnerships.
• Eliminates the State grant and Teacher Recruitment grant programs.
• Turns the Partnership grant program into the revised Teacher Quality Partnership grant program.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive five-year grants to partnerships of high-need local educational agencies (LEAs), high-need schools, and IHEs for use in carrying out a pre-baccalaureate teacher preparation program, a teaching residency program or both.
• Requires the pre-baccalaureate teacher preparation program to include: (1) educational reforms; (2) clinical experience and interaction; (3) induction programs for new teachers that provide them with mentoring and support for at least their first two years of teaching; and (4) teacher recruitment mechanisms.
• Allows partnerships to use grant funds to partner with television public broadcast stations to improve the quality of pre-baccalaureate teacher preparation programs.
• Requires the teaching residency program to prepare teachers for success in the high-need schools in the partnership by engaging residents in rigorous graduate-level coursework to earn a master's degree while they undertake a guided teaching apprenticeship alongside a trained and experienced mentor teacher who may be relieved of teaching duties. Requires teacher residents to be: (1) recent graduates of a four-year IHE; or (2) mid-career professionals from outside the field of education who possess strong content knowledge or a record of professional accomplishment. Provides residents with a living stipend
• or salary during the one-year residency program in exchange for at least three years of service in a high-need school served by the high-need LEA.
• Requires partnership grantees to provide an amount equal to the amount of the grant from nonfederal sources for program activities, unless the Secretary grants them a hardship waiver.
• Adds programs that offer alternative routes to state certification and licensure to the teacher preparation programs that must provide annual reports to the Secretary concerning certain measures of program effectiveness, such as student success on certification or licensure assessments.
• Prohibits the Secretary from using such information to create a national list or ranking of states, institutions, or schools.
• Requires title IV-eligible IHEs that provide teacher training to set annual quantifiable goals for: (1) increasing the number of prospective teachers trained in teacher shortage areas; and (2) linking the training they provide more closely with the needs of schools and the instructional decisions new teachers face in the classroom. Directs such IHEs to publicly report on their performance toward such goals.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program.

Title III: Institutional Aid

• Revises and reauthorizes HEA title III, Institutional Aid programs.
• Expands the authorized uses of institutional aid to include remedial education, English language instruction, and educational or counseling services to improve the financial and economic literacy of students or their parents.
• Establishes a formula grant program, including a minimum grant amount, for American Indian tribally controlled colleges and universities (replacing the current competitive grant program). Authorizes the use of grant funds for: (1) acquiring adjacent property on which to construct instructional facilities; (2) education or counseling services designed to improve the financial literacy and economic literacy of students or their parents; and (3) developing and improving facilities for Internet and other distance education technologies.
• Revises requirements for grants to Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions. Authorizes the use of grant funds for education or counseling services designed to improve the financial literacy and economic literacy of students or their parents.
• Establishes a grant program for Native American-serving, non-tribal institutions. Directs the Secretary to provide grants and related assistance to such institutions to improve and expand their capacity to serve Native Americans. Requires the undergraduate student enrollment of Native Americans at such institutions to be at least 10 percent of the total undergraduate enrollment.
• Revises the title III part B program of grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to direct the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Secretary to consult with the Commissioner for Education Statistics in determining professional and academic areas in which blacks are underrepresented.
• Authorizes the use of part B funds for education or counseling services designed to improve the financial literacy and economic literacy of students or their parents.
• Conditions part B institutions' eligibility for part B allotments on their providing annual data indicating that they enroll Pell grant recipients, that their graduates graduate from accredited programs, and that their graduates have enrolled in graduate or professional school within the past five years.
• Adds to the list of eligible part B graduate and professional institutions.
• Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the Department's progress in implementing the recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in October 2006 for improving the Historically Black College and Universities Capital Financing program.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for title III programs.

Title IV: Student Assistance

Revises and reauthorizes HEA title IV, Student Assistance programs.

Part A: Grants to Students in Attendance at Institutions of Higher Education

• Reauthorizes the Pell Grant program through FY2013.
• Sets the authorized maximum Pell Grant award at $5,400 for academic year 2008-2009, $5,700 for academic year 2008-2009, $6,000 for academic year 2010-2011, and $6,300 for academic year 2011-2012.
• Sets the minimum Pell Grant (currently $400) at 10 percent of the appropriated maximum grant level for that academic year; but allows an award of a grant equal to 10 percent of such level if students are eligible for a grant between 5 percent and 10 percent of such level.
• Eliminates a tuition sensitivity requirement which currently prohibits maximum awards to students attending low-cost institutions even if their income is low enough otherwise to qualify.
• Allows the awarding of an additional Pell Grant during a single award year to certain students who attend school year-round to accelerate their progress toward a degree.
• Limits the period of a student's receiving Pell Grants to 18 semesters or an equivalent period determined by the Secretary.
• Makes eligible for Academic Competitiveness grants: (1) part-time students; (2) fifth-year students, (3) non-citizens; (4) first-year students who were previously enrolled in undergraduate education; (5) students enrolled in certificate-awarding programs; and (6) students enrolled in IHEs that do not permit declaration of a major, but who are studying one of the requisite subjects or are required to undertake rigorous studies in mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics.
• Requires IHEs to make payments of such grants in the same manner they make Pell grant payments.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for TRIO programs (of grants and contracts designed to identify qualified individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds and help prepare them for a program of postsecondary education).
• Extends the duration of TRIO grants to five years. Sets the minimum grant at $200,000.
• Directs the Secretary to establish outcome criteria for such programs.
• Authorizes the use of funds in all TRIO programs for education and counseling services to improve the financial and economic literacy of students and families assisted by TRIO. Revises required activities and permissible activities under all TRIO programs.
• Requires the Secretary to give priority under the TRIO Upward Bound program to projects that select not less than 30 percent of all first-time participants from students who have a high academic risk for failure. Prohibits the denial of participation to students who enter projects after the ninth grade.
• Authorizes additional appropriations for each of FY2008-FY2011 to provide assistance to applicants for Upward Bound projects that: (1) did not receive funding in FY2007; and (2) receive a grant score above 70.
• Includes Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the Post-baccalaureate Achievement program designed to provide disadvantaged college students with effective preparation for doctoral study.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEARUP).
• Authorizes the use of funds for education and counseling services to improve the financial and economic literacy of students and families who are assisted by GEARUP. Revises required activities and permissible activities under GEARUP.
• Requires eligible entities, if they do not use a cohort approach in providing GEARUP services, to treat certain types of low-income students and homeless students as priority students for participation in GEARUP.
• Requires a certain portion of GEARUP funds to be used for scholarships.
• Repeals authority for 21st Century Scholar Certificates.
• Repeals authority for academic achievement incentive scholarships.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG). Increases the allowance for books and supplies in determining cost of attendance under SEOG (and the other two campus-based aid programs).
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Program. Increases the maximum LEAP grant from $5,000 to the lesser of $12,500 or the student's cost of attendance each academic year.
• Replaces the Special Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (SLEAP) program with the Grants for Access and Persistence program.
• Requires state grantees to be in partnership with: (1) at least one IHE in the state; (2) early information and intervention, mentoring, or outreach programs in the state; and (3) at least one philanthropic organization or business in the state.
• Requires such partnerships to: (1) coordinate the provision of financial assistance to low-income students; (2) provide need-based grants for access and persistence to eligible low-income students; (3) provide early notification to low-income students of their eligibility for financial aid; and (4) encourage their participation in early information and intervention, mentoring, or outreach programs.
• Sets the federal share of funds for the Grants for Access and Persistence program at: (1) 50 percent, if the state partnership includes IHEs whose combined enrollment is less than half of the student enrollment in the state; and (2) 57 percent, if more than half of the students in the state are enrolled in a participating IHE.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for special programs for students whose families are engaged in migrant and seasonal farm work (the High School Equivalency program and the College Assistance Migrant Program, HEP/CAMP).
• Revises eligibility requirements for both programs to make it the students or their immediate family which must engage in the requisite period of migrant and seasonal farm work, rather than they or their parents.
• Includes preparation for college entrance examinations and activities to improve persistence and retention in postsecondary education among the services provided under the HEP program.
• Adds economic or personal finance education, internships, and certain follow-up services to CAMP activities.
• Increases the minimum allocation for each project under both programs.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program. Makes home-schooled children eligible under the program.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School program. Increases the minimum grant amount in any fiscal year when appropriations reach a specified amount. Alters the definition of low-income students to include those who would be eligible for Pell grants but for their enrollment in graduate level studies or their temporary status in this country.
• Repeals the Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships program.

Part B: Federal Family Education Loan Program - (Sec. 421)

• Requires lenders to provide student borrowers of unsubsidized FFELs with information regarding the effect a deferment will have on the total cost of the loan before granting such deferment.
• Adds to the business inducements FFEL guaranty agencies are prohibited from offering IHEs and lenders to include stock or other securities, prizes, travel, entertainment expenses, and tuition repayment. Prohibits guaranty agencies from performing or paying another person to perform any function the IHE is required to perform under the FFEL or DL programs.
• Requires FFEL lenders granting forbearance to borrowers to provide them with information concerning its effect on the total cost of their loan and to keep them updated, at least once every 180 days, concerning the loan's accrual of interest and their option to discontinue forbearance at any time.
• Directs lenders to inform borrowers seeking to consolidate loans: (1) of loan costs and repayment terms, including the ability to prepay or change repayment plans; (2) whether FFEL or DL repayment-related benefits will be lost; (3) that certain Federal Perkins Loan (PL) interest-free periods and deferment and cancellation options will be lost; (4) that other lenders may offer different terms; and (5) that applying for such loans does not oblige borrowers to take them.
• Requires guaranty agencies and prior holders of FFEL loans under default reduction programs to request consumer reporting agencies to remove borrowers' records of default upon the sale of such loans. Limits the loan rehabilitation benefits available to borrowers under such programs to one time per loan. Requires default reduction programs to make financial and economic education materials available to borrowers.
• Requires reports to credit bureaus and IHEs to include information regarding the type of title IV loan, the repayment status of the loan, and any other information required by federal law.
• Allows IHEs to use a master promissory note for FFELs and DLs.
• Sets forth privacy requirements for student loan information about borrowers. Requires lenders, holders, or servicers of loans to provide borrowers with information on loan benefit repayment options.
• Requires participating guaranty agencies and IHEs to provide students with consumer education information on budgeting and financial management.
• Expands the activities disqualifying lenders from participation in the FFEL program, including: (1) offering specified inducements to IHEs; (2) performing certain uncompensated services for IHEs; and (3) entering into certain business arrangements with students or school financial aid employees.
• Terminates on June 30, 2012, the authority of a school to serve as a lender or a lender to serve as a school trustee under the FFEL program. Requires such school lenders and trustees to provide annual compliance audits to the Secretary.
• Requires the Secretary to discharge a borrower's liability under the FFEL, DL, and PL programs if a borrower, although not permanently and totally disabled, is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a medically determinable impairment which can be expected to result in death or last at least 60 continuous months. Allows the Secretary to develop anti-fraud safeguards.

Part C: Federal Work-Study Programs - (Sec. 441)

• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for Work-Study (WS) programs.
• Increases the allowance for books and supplies in determining cost of attendance under WS (and the other two campus-based aid programs).
• Allows a waiver of the requirement that IHEs have a tutoring or family literacy project, and use 7 percent of their WS allocation to compensate students' community service, if the school certifies that at least 15 percent of its full-time students participate in specified community service or tutoring and literacy activities.
• Increases the amount of its WS allocation which an IHE may use for job location and development.
• Includes among authorized uses of WS funds support for model student volunteer community service projects associated with local IHEs.
• Revises work college requirements by: (1) referring to work college programs as comprehensive work-learning-service programs; (2) limiting eligibility to four-year degree-granting IHEs; and (3) requiring resident students, including at least half of all resident students enrolled on a full-time basis, to participate in a comprehensive work-learning-service program for at least five hours each week, or not less than 80 hours during each period of enrollment, unless they are engaged in study abroad or externship programs approved by the school.

Part D: Federal Perkins Loans — (Sec. 451)

• Reauthorizes certain appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 under the PL program.
• Increases the allowance for books and supplies in determining cost of attendance under the program.
• Alters the manner of documenting the terms of a PL forbearance agreement between an IHE and borrower.
• Revises requirements for cancellation of loans for certain public service to include service: (1) in a pre-kindergarten or child care program; (2) as a full-time faculty member at a Tribal College or University; (3) as a librarian with a master's degree working in an elementary school eligible for assistance under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA-I eligible) or in a public library serving an area containing an ESEA-I eligible school; and (4) as a full-time speech language therapist with a master's degree working exclusively with ESEA-I eligible schools.
• Provides loan cancellation for such occupations and for service in the armed forces in an area of hostilities at the rate of 15 percent for the first or second year of service, 20 percent for the third or fourth year of service, and 30 percent for the fifth year of service.

Part E: Need Analysis — (Sec. 461)

• Expands the definition of an allowance for room and board to include an allowance for expenses reasonably incurred for board, but not for room, for those students who receive a military housing allowance or live on base.
• Excludes the value of on-base military housing or a military housing allowance from consideration as untaxed income or benefits in the need analysis formula.

Part F: General Provisions Relating to Student Assistance

• Limits the Secretary's authority to waive the minimum weeks of instruction requirement for IHEs to IHEs that measure program length in credit or clock hours.
• Directs the Secretary to provide to IHEs before each award year a compliance calendar listing all reports and disclosures required under HEA, including specified information.
• Directs the Secretary to develop and use a simplified paper application form of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), to be called the EZ FAFSA, for students who meet the requirements of the automatic zero expected family contribution.
• Requires the Secretary to: (1) phase-out the paper form (the long form or full FAFSA) for students who do not meet the requirements for an EZ FAFSA; and (2) produce, distribute, and process common forms in electronic format, including a simplified electronic application form on the Internet.
• Directs the Secretary to implement an early application demonstration program assessing the feasibility and benefits of allowing dependent students to complete a FAFSA two years before their enrollment in an IHE.
• Authorizes the Secretary, after the completion of the demonstration project, to use Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data to populate the electronic FAFSA if the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury determine that such use would not have a significant negative impact on students, IHEs, states, or the federal government.
• Revises requirements for student eligibility for title IV assistance.
• Requires the IHE to determine, for each student who is not a high school graduate, that the student has the ability to benefit from the education or training it offers, upon satisfactory completion of six credit hours or the equivalent coursework applicable to a degree or certificate it offers.
• Sets forth HEA student aid eligibility requirements for students with intellectual disabilities who are eligible for assistance under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and have completed secondary school, or are not eligible for such assistance due to their exceeding the maximum age.
• Revises requirements relating to statute of limitations and state court judgments. Provides that a borrower may not raise a defense based on infancy against an IHE collecting an obligation under the Perkins Loan program.
• Provides that, if a student is deceased, neither the student's estate nor family's estate is required to repay any title IV assistance or related costs.
• Gives IHEs the option of determining that HEA requirements regarding the return of title IV funds do not apply to students who do not begin the IHE withdrawal process or fail to notify the IHE of such withdrawal due to circumstances beyond their control.
• Adds to the institutional information IHEs must provide by including information on: (1) plans for improving their academic programs; (2) policies and sanctions related to copyright infringement; (3) student body diversity; (4) graduate employment; (5) the types of graduate and professional education pursued by graduates; (6) fire safety practices and standards; (7) their undergraduate student retention rates; (8) immediate emergency response and evacuation procedures; and (9) transfer of credit policies.
• Sets forth requirements regarding such emergency response and evacuation procedures, including the requirement that such procedures be tested on an annual basis.
• Requires IHEs to inform prospective and enrolled students of the terms and conditions of FFELs, DLs, and PLs. Adds to the exit counseling information schools must provide to student borrowers. Requires certain information regarding: (1) costs and repayment terms, including the ability to prepay or change repayment plans; (2) loan forgiveness and forbearance options; (3) the effects of consolidating such loans; and (4) the availability of the National Student Loan Data System for use in obtaining information on their loan status.
• Requires IHEs, at or before disbursing a FFEL or DL to a first-time student borrower, to ensure that the borrower receives comprehensive information on the terms and conditions of the loan as well as the borrower's responsibilities.
• Directs the Secretary to take actions necessary to maintain confidence in the National Student Loan Data System, at a minimum: (1) ensuring that guaranty agencies, lenders, and schools access it primarily for legitimate program operations; (2) prohibiting nongovernmental researchers or policy analysts from accessing personally identifiable information; (3) creating a disclosure form for actual and potential students describing the contents of, and access to, the system; (4) requiring guaranty agencies, lenders, and schools to inform borrowers of FFELs, DLs, and PLs that such a loan will be submitted to the system and accessible to such entities; (5) reviewing the system regularly to delete inactive users, monitor use, and ensure that data is not used for marketing purposes; and (6) developing standardized protocols for limiting access.
• Requires the Secretary to study and report to Congress on: (1) mechanisms giving borrowers the option of restricting lender access to their system records; and (2) appropriate risk-based protocols for limiting access.
• Directs the Secretary to implement a comprehensive system of early financial aid information in order to provide students and families with early information about financial aid and early estimates of such students' eligibility for financial aid from multiple sources.
• Revises requirements for title IV program participation agreements.
• Requires IHEs to establish and enforce a student loan code of conduct prohibiting them: (1) or their financial aid employees from accepting certain inducements from, or entering into certain business arrangements with, lenders; or (2) from assigning a first-time borrower's loan to a particular lender or blocking a borrower's selection of a particular lender or guaranty agency.
• Limits, suspends, or terminates an IHE's participation in title IV loan programs for noncompliance with such code.
• Subjects to sanctions any proprietary IHEs that do not earn at least 10 percent of their revenue from non-title IV sources (the 90/10 rule), including suspension of their title IV eligibility after two consecutive years of noncompliance.
• Requires an IHE with an FFEL preferred lender list to: (1) disclose fully on it the reason for each lender's inclusion and the students' right to choose other lenders; (2) include at least three unaffiliated lenders; and (3) establish and disclose a process to ensure that lenders are listed on the basis of the benefits they provide borrowers.
• Requires IHEs whose access to title IV funds is being limited, suspended, or terminated to prepare written teach-out plans that provide for the equitable treatment of students if the school ceases operation before all students complete their studies.
• Authorizes the Secretary to continue until June 30, 2008, projects under the Quality Assurance program which allow certain IHEs to implement their own comprehensive student aid management systems.
• Allows IHE to transfer up to 25 percent of their SEOG allotment to their WS program.
• Directs the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance to:
  1. review and analyze regulations; and (2) study innovative pathways to baccalaureate degree attainment. Includes among the Committee's purposes improving understanding of early intervention programs and making recommendations that result in increased availability and awareness of aid.
  2. (Sec. 486) Includes state student grant agencies in certain regional meetings.

Part G: Program Integrity — (Sec. 491)

• Revises requirements for recognition of an accrediting agency or association.
• Requires accreditors, where applicable, to demonstrate that their standards effectively address an IHE's distance education programs; but does not require separate distance education standards.
• Requires an accreditor, in its accrediting or reaccrediting review, to confirm that an IHE has publicly disclosed transfer policies that include a statement of the IHE's criteria regarding the transfer of credit earned at another IHE.
• Prohibits the Secretary from issuing regulations regarding the specific standards an accrediting agency or association uses to assess an IHE.
• Provides for special treatment of teach-outs at additional IHE locations.
• Sets forth additional requirements for accreditors regarding program review and data.
• Requires title IV lenders to provide specified loan information to borrowers for each payment installment period, at least one month before repayment commences, during delinquency, and at least twice during default.
• Provides that, if the Congress authorizes the Secretary to carry out a pilot program for the auction of federal PLUS loans, the Comptroller General must conduct an evaluation and report to Congress regarding the costs and benefits of such auction and the desirability of auctioning other FFELs.

Title V: Developing Institutions

• Revises and reauthorizes HEA requirements for Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) under title V (Developing Institutions).
• Includes among authorized uses of funds: (1) innovative, customized remedial education and English language instruction courses; (2) education or counseling services designed to improve financial and economic literacy of students and parents; and (3) articulation agreements and student support programs designed to facilitate the transfer from two-year to four-year institutions.
• Establishes a program of competitive grants to eligible HSIs that offer post-baccalaureate certifications or degrees (part B grants).
• Limits a part grant award's duration to not more than five years. Prohibits the Secretary of Education from awarding more than one part B grant to an HSI in any one fiscal year.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the part A program of grants to HSIs that offer baccalaureate degrees or are junior or community colleges.
• Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the new part B program of grants to HSIs that offer post-baccalaureate certifications or degrees.

Title VI: International Education Programs

• Revises and reauthorizes International Education Programs (title VI).
• Directs the Secretary to: (1) consult with officials of a wide range of federal agencies on the national need for expertise in foreign languages and world regions before requesting applications for title VI funding during each grant cycle; and (2) assist grantees in developing a survey on placement of students after their graduation from title VI programs.
• Revises requirements for graduate and undergraduate language and area centers and programs. Includes among authorized activities supporting instructors of the less commonly taught languages. Makes undergraduates engaged in the intermediate or advanced study of a less commonly taught language eligible for fellowships for foreign language and area or international studies.
• Revises requirements for undergraduate international studies and foreign language programs. Includes among authorized activities providing sub grants to undergraduate students for educational programs abroad that are closely linked to the program's overall goals and that promote foreign language fluency and knowledge of foreign cultures.
• Authorizes the Secretary to use up to 20 percent (currently, 10 percent) of the funds appropriated under part A of title VI for such programs; but limits the study abroad component to 10 percent.
• Includes among authorized research and study activities: (1) an evaluation of the extent to which title VI programs reflect diverse perspectives and generate debate on world regions and international affairs; and (2) the collection, analysis, and dissemination of title VI data.
• Revises provisions for technological innovation and cooperation for foreign information access to authorize grants to certain partnerships with not-for-profit educational organizations and other specified entities.
• Requires that, in choosing grant recipients for foreign language and area or international studies centers and programs, the Secretary consider an applicant's efforts to increase the number of students going into areas of national need.
• Requires American overseas research centers that desire a title VI grant to submit an application to the Secretary.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for international and foreign language studies (title VI, part A).
• Revises provisions for centers for international business education and for education and training programs to require assurances that grant-funded activities will reflect diverse perspectives, where applicable.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for business and international education programs (title VI part B), including centers for international business education and education and training programs.
• Revises the minority Foreign Service professional development program of the Institute for International Public Policy (IIPP) to require assurances that grant-funded activities will reflect diverse perspectives and a wide range of views on world regions and international affairs, where applicable.
• Authorizes the Secretary to waive a matching funds requirement for eligible recipients of such grants.
• Revises the IIPP institutional development, study abroad, advanced degree in international relations, and internships programs.
• Authorizes IIPP to provide financial assistance, through summer stipends and Ralph Bunche scholarships, to needy students to facilitate their participation in IIPP programs.
• Makes the current annual IIPP report biennial.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for IIPP and its title VI part C programs.
• Sets forth title VI authority for assessment and enforcement, including evaluation, outreach, and information activities.
• Directs the Secretary to submit a biennial report to Congress that identifies, and includes a plan to address, areas of national need in foreign language, area, and international studies.

Title VII: Graduate and Postsecondary Improvement Programs

• Revises and reauthorizes title VII requirements for Graduate and Postsecondary Improvement Programs.
• Directs the Secretary, appointing members of the Jacob K. Javits Fellows Program Fellowship Board, to include representatives of various U.S. geographic regions and representatives from minority institutions.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship program.
• Specifies the entities with which the Secretary is to consult and some considerations to take into account in determining areas of national need under the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program.
• Reauthorizes additional assistance for cost of education to IHEs under such program.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program.
• Revises the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity program to involve secondary school students in the program and provide Thurgood Marshall Fellowships to law school students who participate in certain summer institutes.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the program.
• Adds to authorized activities under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education program (FIPSE): (1) the establishment and continuation of joint efforts based on the technology of communications; (2) the reform of remedial and English language instruction; and (3) the creation of IHE consortia to establish interdisciplinary programs on poverty.
• Establishes new FIPSE programs to: (1) support and promote the establishment of new integrated education reform services, with funds going to the nonprofit educational organization Project Grad USA; (2) create at an IHE a center to study and develop best practices to support single-parent students; and (3) create at an IHE a clearinghouse to help IHEs understanding the federal regulatory impact on higher education; and (4) create a scholarship program for the family members of veterans and military personnel.
• Adds to the areas of national need eligible for special project funding under the FIPSE program, including foreign language studies.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the Secretary's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.
• Eliminates the Urban Community Service program (part C of title VII of HEA).
• Adds to authorized activities under demonstration projects to ensure students with disabilities receive a quality higher education. Includes among such activities: (1) the development of innovative teaching methods and strategies to ensure the successful transition of disabled students from secondary to postsecondary education; (2) increased availability of distance education to disabled students; (3) teacher training and support in providing disabled students with career options; and (4) curriculum development to make postsecondary education more accessible to disabled students.
• Establishes a new competitive matching grant program for IHEs to create or expand high-quality, inclusive model comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities focusing on academic enrichment, socialization, independent living, and integrated work experiences and career skills.
• Directs the Secretary to enter into a cooperative agreement with an entity that has relevant experience for the establishment of a coordinating center for technical assistance, evaluation, and development of accreditation standards for IHEs that offer inclusive model comprehensive transition and postsecondary
• programs for students with intellectual disabilities.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for demonstration projects to ensure that students with disabilities receive a quality higher education.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to educational organizations to develop or improve valid and reliable measures of student achievement for use by IHEs in evaluating learning.

Title VIII: Miscellaneous

• Establishes the Mathematics and Science Scholars program, providing competitive matching grants to states for scholarships to first and second year college students who complete a rigorous secondary school curriculum in mathematics and science.
• Directs the Secretary to contract with an independent bipartisan organization to study the cost factors associated with tuition at IHEs.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to partnerships of community colleges and workforce investment boards for job skills training in high-growth occupations or industries.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to: (1) undergraduate registered nurse (R.N.) nursing programs to expand faculty and facilities to accommodate additional students; or (2) graduate nursing programs to accommodate advanced practice degrees for R.N.s or provide teachers for nursing students.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to IHEs to establish or strengthen academic programs or centers that promote knowledge of traditional American history, free institutions, and Western civilization.
• Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award a grant to Teach For America, Inc. to implement and expand its program of recruiting, selecting, training, and supporting new teachers who commit to teach for two years in underserved communities. Directs the Secretary to provide for a study, at least once every three years, examining the achievement levels of students taught by such teachers.
• Establishes the Patsy T. Mink Fellowship program of awards to assist highly qualified minorities and women to acquire the doctoral degree, or highest possible degree available, in academic areas in which such individuals are underrepresented, to enable them to enter the higher education professoriate.
• Requires fellowship recipients to serve at the IHE from which they received the fellowship for a period equivalent to the fellowship period.
• Directs the Secretary to contract with a nonprofit organization to conduct a needs assessment of, and provide comprehensive services to, urban LEAs and rural states to improve higher education enrollment rates.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award formula grants to Predominantly Black Institutions to: (1) enhance their capacity to serve more low and middle-income Black American students; (2) expand higher education opportunities for students eligible for student assistance under title IV of the HEA by encouraging such students to prepare for college and persist in secondary and postsecondary education; and (3) strengthen their financial ability to serve the academic needs of such students.
• Defines Predominantly Black Institutions as accredited institutions serving at least 1,000 undergraduate students at least: (1) 50 percent of whom are pursuing a bachelor's or associate's degree; (2) 40 percent of whom are African-Americans; and (3) 50 percent of whom are low-income or first-generation college students. Requires the spending per full-time undergraduate student of such institutions to be low in comparison to that of institutions offering similar instruction.
• Early Childhood Education Professional Development and Career Task Force Act — Authorize the Secretary to award competitive grants to a state for the establishment of a State Early Childhood Education Professional Development and Career Task Force: (1) composed of state, higher education, and early childhood education representatives; and (2) tasked with developing a plan for a comprehensive statewide early childhood education professional development and career system that includes the provision of postsecondary educational assistance to individuals who agree to work in early childhood education programs.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award a grant to a partnership of IHEs and private career organizations to expand programs for the development of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics professionals, from elementary school through college, including existing programs for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students.
• Establishes a Pilot Program to Increase Persistence in Community Colleges under which the Secretary awards competitive grants to community colleges for scholarships and counseling services for low-income students with dependent children. Provides scholarship funds to students upon their completion of certain academic milestones.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to IHEs to do one or more of the following: (1) develop and implement a state-of-the art emergency communications system; (2) take measures to improve IHE safety; or (3) coordinate, with appropriate local entities, the provision of mental health
• services to students affected by a campus or community emergency.
• Gives the Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security joint authority to advise IHEs and disseminate information concerning model emergency response policies, procedures, and practices.
• Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to veterinary schools or entities offering veterinary training to increase the number of veterinarians in the workforce.
• Authorizes the Secretary to establish an Early Federal Pell Grant Demonstration Program awarding: (1) grants to four state education agencies to cover program administrative expenses; and (2) Pell Grants to eighth grade students who are eligible for a free or reduced price meal under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award a grant to the University of Hawaii Academy for Creative Media for the establishment, maintenance, and periodic modernization of the Henry Kuualoha Giugni Kupuna Memorial Archives at the University of Hawaii.
• Requires the Archives to use grant funds, among other things, for: (1) acquisition of a secure web accessible repository of Native Hawaiian historical data; (2) college scholarships for disadvantaged students; (3) creation of educational materials applicable to a broad range of indigenous students; (4) outreach to elementary and secondary school students; (5) relevant teacher training; and (6) the enhancement of the economic and financial literacy of college students.
• Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish one or more nonprofit clearinghouses of student loan information that are unaffiliated in any way with IHEs, lenders, or guaranty agencies; and (2) publish and update quarterly a list of such clearinghouses on the Department of Education's website.
• Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to minority-serving IHEs to: (1) acquire digital and wireless technology; and (2) develop and provide educational services, including professional development for educators, related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Title IX: Amendments to Other Laws

Part A: Education of the Deaf Act of 1986

• Amends the Education of the Deaf Act of 1986 (EDA) to identify the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center as the place where Gallaudet University's EDA elementary and secondary programs are to be held
.
• Requires Gallaudet to develop, for such elementary and secondary programs, academic assessments and standards for academic content, achievement, and adequate yearly progress in keeping with specified requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
• Identifies the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) as the IHE with which the Secretary has an agreement to operate and maintain the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID). Directs the Secretary to consider proposals from other IHEs if the Secretary or RIT terminates such agreement.
• Establishes a HEA title IX part C program of cultural experiences grants to and contracts with nonprofit organizations for activities to: (1) enrich the lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adults; (2) increase public awareness and understanding of deafness and of the artistic and intellectual achievements of deaf and hard-of-hearing persons; or (3) promote
• the integration of hearing, deaf, and hard-of-hearing persons through shared cultural, educational, and social experiences.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for monitoring, evaluation, and reporting under EDA.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for federal endowment programs for Gallaudet University and NTID under EDA.
• Exempts international students participating in distance learning through Gallaudet University or NTID from: (1) counting against the international student enrollment cap, though prohibits their displacing U.S. citizens applying for such courses; and (2) the tuition surcharge other international students at such schools must pay.
• Mandates that such schools reduce the tuition surcharge from 100 percent to 50 percent for international students from developing countries. Permits such schools to use a sliding scale to reduce such surcharge to no less than 25 percent for students from developing countries, and to no less than 50 percent for students from non-developing countries, if such students demonstrate need and have made a good effort to secure aid from their home country or other sources.
• Raises to $4,825 the maximum per capita income level at which a country is considered a developing country.
• Reauthorizes appropriations under EDA for FY2008-FY2013 for: (1) Gallaudet University; (2) Kendall Demonstration Elementary School; (3) the Model Secondary School for the Deaf; and (4) NTID.

Part B: United States Institute of Peace Act

• Amends the United States Institute of Peace Act to reauthorize appropriations for the U.S. Institute of Peace for FY2008-FY2013. Requires any authorization of appropriations for U.S. Institute of Peace programs to be extended in the same manner as applicable programs are extended under specified provisions of the General Education Provisions Act.

Part C: The Higher Education Amendments of 1998

• Repeals specified provisions under title VIII (Studies, Reports, and Related Programs) of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998.
• Revises requirements of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 relating to grants to states for workplace and community transition training for incarcerated youth offenders. Authorizes the Secretary to establish performance objectives and reporting requirements for state grantees.
• Alters youth offender eligibility to include persons under age 35 (currently, 25) and exclude persons who have committed a criminal offense against a minor, a sexually violent offense, or murder. Increases the amount that each state can receive for each eligible student from a maximum of $1,500 to a maximum of $3,000 annually for tuition, books, and essential materials. Reauthorizes appropriations for the program for FY2008-FY2013.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for the Underground Railroad educational and cultural program for FY2008-FY2013.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for Olympic scholarships for FY2008-FY2013.

Part D: Indian Education — Subpart 1: Tribal Colleges and Universities

• Amends the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978 to define an Indian student as a member of an Indian tribe or a biological child of such a member.
• Sets forth the method of determining credits earned in an Indian continuing education program, but limits such credits to 10 percent of the Indian student count of a tribally controlled college or university.
• Requires tribally controlled college or university grantees to be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association that meets the Secretary's approval or making progress toward such accreditation according to such agency or association.
• Increases the grant amount per Indian student count from $6,000 to $8,000.
• Reauthorizes appropriations for various programs under the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978.
• Establishes a grant program for two tribally controlled postsecondary career and technical institutions, the United Tribes Technical College and the Navajo Technical College.
• Subpart 2: Navajo Higher Education — Navajo Nation Higher Education Act of 2006 — (Sec. 946) Amends the Navajo Community College Act to replace references to the Navajo Community College with references to Dine College. Reauthorizes appropriations for grants Dine College for FY2008-FY2013. Adds the improvement and expansion of Dine College to authorized grant uses.
• Directs the Secretary to assume the obligation to repay student loans under the FFEL, DL, and PL programs on behalf of civil legal assistance attorneys for the duration of agreements between the Secretary and such attorneys requiring their continued employment in such capacity for at least three years.
• Authorizes the Secretary to enter into additional such agreements with civil legal assistance attorneys who have completed their service obligation.
• Authorizes appropriations.

Part E: Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 — John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2007

• Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct the Attorney General to assume the obligation to repay student loans under the FFEL, DL, and PL programs for borrowers who agree to remain employed, for at least three years, as: (1) state or local criminal prosecutors; or (2) state, local, or federal public defenders in criminal or juvenile delinquency cases. Authorizes the Attorney General to enter into additional such agreements with prosecutors and public defenders who have completed their service obligation.
• Requires the GAO to study and report to Congress on the impact law school accreditation requirements and other factors have on law school costs and access, including their impact on racial and ethnic minorities.
• Authorizes appropriations.

HR 4137 — The College Opportunity and Access Act of 2007

Title I: General Provisions

Dually Enrolled Students
H.R. 4137 amends the definition of an institution of higher education to permit institutions to admit students who are dually or concurrently enrolled in the institution and a secondary school.

Foreign Medical Schools
The bill allows foreign medical schools to be eligible for federal aid if they have a clinical training program approved prior to January 1, 2008, certify only unsubsidized Stafford or PLUS loans, and agree to reimburse the Secretary for the cost of any defaulted loan in the institution's cohort default rate during the previous fiscal year. It also allows foreign nursing schools to be eligible for federal aid if they have agreements with hospitals and nursing programs located within the United States, have students complete their training in the United States, certify only unsubsidized Stafford and PLUS loans, and agree to reimburse the Secretary for the cost of any student loan defaults if the institution's cohort default rate exceeds 5.

National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI)
The NACIQI advises the Secretary of Education on matters related to accreditation and the eligibility and certification process for institutions of higher education. Under current law, the Secretary appoints members of NACIQI for three-year terms of office. H.R. 4137 increases the committee membership to eighteen members, with six members appointed by the Secretary, six members appointed by the House of Representatives (three appointed by the majority leader and three by the minority leader), and six members appointed by the Senate (three appointed by the majority leader and three by the minority leader).

College Costs

H.R. 4137 includes:

The bill ensures that states maintain their own level of college financing-to ensure that they fulfill their end of the bargain to make a quality college education affordable to all students. Under this section, states risk losing funds under the newly created "Grants for Access and Persistence" (GAP grants) if they fail to meet the state maintenance of effort. For those states that have specific fiscal challenges, the bill includes a waiver that may be awarded at the discretion of the Secretary.

Also included in the bill is a requirement for a report on the state appropriations, including a comparison of the age change in state appropriations per enrolled student in public institutions of higher education to the age change in tuition and fees for each public institutions of higher education for each of the five previous years.

Consumer Friendly Information and Transparency: The bill includes a provision for the creation of a national list and reporting system by institutions of higher education.

Specifically, the bill requires the Secretary to publish annually a list that allows individuals to sort information by state or type of institution. The list will also include rankings for institutions based on their changes in tuition and fees over the preceding three years. Institutions whose increase in tuition and fees exceeds that of its applicable higher education price index will be placed on the "Higher Education Price Increase Watch List." For institutions placed on the Watch List, the bill requires schools to create a Quality Efficiency Task Force which will examine the institution's operating costs as compared to other similarly situated institutions and make recommendations on how the institution can create more efficiencies to help hold down costs.

University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN): H.R. 4137 includes a provision for the creation of a model document, the University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN). This model document may be used by institutions to annually report basic institutional information.

Higher Education Price Index: The bill requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to develop higher education price indices (HEPI) that accurately reflect the annual change in tuition and fees for undergraduate students enrolled in specific types of institutions (e.g., four-year public degree-granting).

Textbook Costs: The bill directs college textbook publishers to provide pricing information to faculty and other personnel when they are making purchasing decisions and to provide combined or "bundled" materials separately. H.R. 4137 also directs institutions and college bookstores to provide textbook information to students early (in course catalogs and online) so that they are aware of the textbook costs associated with each course when they are making course selections each semester.

Student Loan Sunshine — Private Student Loans: H.R. 4137 incorporates the bi-partisan Sunshine Act (H.R. 890) into the bill. It incorporates changes to address concerns that the original bill may have unintentionally prohibited College Presidents from serving on a Bank's board of directors (and vice-versa), despite the absence of a conflict of interest. Further, rather than imposing an outright ban on all opportunity pools, the bill retains the ban on lenders offering opportunity pools as a quid pro quo for placement on a preferred lender list or for a specified loan volume. The bill subjects any other opportunity pool arrangements to enhanced reporting and disclosure requirements and requires that schools provide students with the choice of multiple lenders, ending past practices that resulted in students being directed to a single lender.

Feasibility Study on a National Electronic Student Loan Marketplace: H.R. 4137 includes a requirement for a study on the feasibility of developing a marketplace for students and families to explore the best options with respect to federal and private student loans.

Title II: Teacher Quality Enhancement

Partnership Grants: The bill revises the current structure of the teacher education provisions by consolidating the three main programs (state, recruitment, and partnership grants) into one partnership program. The partnership grants permit funds for new initiatives including the establishment of induction programs, a residency model, and mentoring for new teachers. The partnership grants also include greater accountability to ensure both that states develop standards for their teacher education programs, and that these standards and information on the particular programs are reported to the Department of Education.

Preparing Teachers for Digital Age Learners: H.R. 4137 retains the goal of PT3 but revises the section to focus not only on ensuring that teacher candidates can integrate technology in the classroom, but also may assess the use of this technology.

Recruitment: The bill creates a new initiative aimed at recruiting and retaining individuals to enter and remain in teaching, particularly in the high demand fields such as science, technology, math, foreign languages, and special education.

Community Colleges and Teacher Education: Because community colleges frequently serve as a pipeline to higher education for underrepresented populations, a new initiative in H.R. 4137 encourages partnerships between two-year and four-year teacher preparation programs. The focus is on ensuring transition is from the two-year to the four-year teacher education program and on exposing teacher education students to the classroom environment early on.

Teach for America: H.R. 4137 includes the authorization of Teach for America to encourage the recruitment and training of talented undergraduate students to enter into the teaching profession.

Honorable Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence: H.R. 4137 establishes new Centers of Excellence to provide grants to HBCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions (MBIs) to improve teacher quality and preparation.

Early Childhood Education Task Force and Career Ladder: The bill includes newly created state-based task forces on early childhood education with the goal of creating comprehensive state systems. In addition to creating statewide systems, the program encourages a focus on ensuring a well educated and compensated workforce.

National Academy of Science — Study on Best Practices in Teacher Education: H.R. 4137 calls for a study by the National Academy of Sciences to develop best practices in teacher education.

Title III: Institutional Aid

For predominately Black Institutions and Asian-Pacific Islander Serving Institutions; the bill establishes new designations within title III.

• Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs) as institutions that have an enrollment of financially needy undergraduate students; an enrollment of undergraduate students at least 40 of whom are African American; and, that has at least 1,000 undergraduate students of whom not less than 50 enrolled at the institution are low-income or first generation and registered in a BA or AA program leading to a degree.
• Asian and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions as institutions that have an enrollment of undergraduate students that is at least 10 Asian American and Pacific Islander and that have a significant enrollment of financially needy students.

Native Americans
The bill makes modest changes to current law with respect to Tribally Controlled Colleges. Additionally, it creates a designation for Native American Non-Tribal institutions which are institutions that (1) have an enrollment of undergraduate students that is not less than 10 Native American students and (2) are not already designated as a Tribal College or University under section 316 of the Higher Education Act.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
In addition to several technical changes, H.R. 4137 amends Part B to allow HBCUs to acquire property, provide financial literacy, and seek technical assistance.

Additionally, the bill adds six graduate programs, namely Alabama State, Bowie State, Delaware State, Langston University, Prairie View A&M, and the University of the District of Columbia School of Law. Finally, this section provides waiver to allow schools affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes to be held harmless at the enrollment levels prior to the hurricanes.

Minority Science and Engineering Improvement (MSEI) Program
H.R. 4137 adds a new initiative to the current MSEI program to support the participation of underrepresented minority youth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through outreach and hands-on experiential-based learning projects. The bill also includes a marketing campaign aimed at encouraging minorities to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Title IV: Student Assistance

Pell Grants
The bill increases the authorized maximum Pell grant award from $5,800 under current law to $9,000. The bill also allows the Pell Grant to be used year round, for certificate programs, and by part-time students. The bill limits student eligibility for the Pell Grant to eighteen semesters or twenty-seven quarters (or its equivalent if the student attends part time).

AC/SMART Grants
The bill includes changes to allow legal permanent residents in certificate programs and those attending part-time to receive AC/SMART grants. The bill also amends the definition of the academic year. The bill amends the SMART Grant program to clarify that a student pursuing eligible courses of study at an institution where students do not declare majors is eligible for the program.

TRIO
The bill includes outcome measures and evaluation criteria for the TRIO programs. It also retains a provision to prohibit the Department of Education from implementing the absolute priority and evaluation in the Upward Bound program that was adopted in the Committee on Education and Labor during the budget reconciliation process (H.Rpt. 110-210). H.R. 4137 allows non-funded applicants to appeal funding decisions to an administrative law judge.

Campus Based Aid
The bill provides for cancellation of Perkins loans for firefighters and librarians.

H.R. 4137 also clarifies the definition of an early childhood educator. Additionally, the bill includes provisions to help sustain the Perkins loan program. It also reauthorizes the Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG) and the Work Study program.

Byrd Scholarship Program
The bill reconstructs the Byrd Scholarship Program to focus on persuading students to earn degrees in the fields of math and science. The program is authorized to develop a Math & Science Honors Scholarship Fund and a Math and Science Incentive Program. The Math and Science Honors Scholarship Fund provides funds to a nonprofit entity to develop the Fund, which may provide scholarships to students who commit to complete five consecutive years of service in a math or science field after graduation.

The Math and Science Incentive Program provides for the forgiveness of up to $5,000 of the interest that accumulates on a student's loan if the student agrees to work for five consecutive years in a math or science field.

Loan Forgiveness
The bill includes a new $10,000 loan forgiveness program for individuals serving in high-needs areas. These qualified individuals are eligible for up to $2,000 in loan forgiveness each year for five years. Eligible professions are: early childhood educators, nurses, foreign language specialists, librarians, teachers, speech-language pathologists, national service participants, school counselors, public sector employees, nutrition professionals, medical specialists, and mental health professionals.

Additionally, the bill includes further clarification of the public service definition in the ten year loan forgiveness program established by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (P.L. 110-84) to specifically add nurses, allied health professionals, and early childhood educators.

EZ-FAFSA
The bill simplifies the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and ensures that students and families begin to receive aid information earlier in the college application process. Specifically, the bill:

• Encourages the Secretary to reduce the number of questions required to be answered by the applicant by 50 in the next five years.
• Creates a two-page FAFSA-EZ form for students and families who qualify for the "auto-zero" family contribution.
• Streamlines the reapplication process so that applicants must only provide updated data in subsequent years, rather than re-filing a new FAFSA.
• Directs the Secretary to implement a system that allows students and families, in the years before they apply for aid, to enter and update information and receive estimates of their Expected Family Contribution (EFC), as well as an estimated amount of aid.
• Includes a Sense of the Congress that the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service work together to use information the government already has with respect to students and families.

Students with Intellectual Disabilities
The reauthorization includes eligibility for Pell grants, work-study programs, and SEOG for students with intellectual disabilities who demonstrate financial need, even if they are enrolled in non-degree higher education programs.

Peer-to-Peer File sharing on Campus
The bill requires institutions to report their policies with respect to copyright infringement and illegal peer-to-peer file sharing/downloading and any procedures to address the infractions. Additionally the bill includes a grant program for consortia of institutions to explore innovative ways to curtail and prevent illegal downloading.

Articulation Agreements and Transfer of Credit
The bill encourages states to develop and implement comprehensive articulation agreements among institutions of higher education over the next two years, and directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance.

The bill also requires institutions to fully disclose the transfer of credit policies for current and prospective students.

The "90/10 Rule"
The bill strikes from the statutory definition of an institution of higher education the provision that a for-profit school must derive no more than 90 of its revenue from federal title IV student aid programs. Instead, the bill makes this provision a requirement of a school's title IV program participation agreement with the Secretary. In addition, the bill clarifies and provides additional flexibility with respect to the types of revenue that count toward the 10 of revenues that must come from non-title IV sources. In particular, the bill provides that schools may count funds from 529 college savings plans, and activities conducted by the school (to the extent they are not included in schools' tuition, fees, and charges) that are necessary for the education or training of students enrolled in educational programs, as well as institutional aid and scholarships (to the extent such aid comes from established restricted accounts and the funds in such accounts represent designated funds from an outside source or from income earned on those funds). In addition, the bill removes the automatic termination of a school's title IV program eligibility after a single violation of the 90/10 rule.

The bill also includes additional safeguards, transparency, reporting and increased sanctions for violating the rule. The Secretary will have the authority to require increased monitoring and reporting requirements. Further, if a school violates the rule two consecutive years, the school will lose eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs for a minimum of three years. H.R. 4137 also provides for public disclosure of schools that violate the rule in any given year. Moreover, the bill requires that the Secretary annually report to the appropriate Congressional committees for each school the calculation of the school's revenue from federal student aid programs.

Accreditation
H.R. 4137, requires an accrediting agency that already has or seeks to include the evaluation of distance education programs within its scope of recognition to demonstrate to the Secretary that its standards effectively address the quality of distance education programs in the same areas in which it evaluates classroom-based programs.

To ensure that accreditors, institutions of higher education and other organizations have a means to express their concerns about accreditation issues, the bill includes the creation of an ombudsman.

The bill also provides that information about investigations of institutions of higher education will not be made public until the final ruling. This process is consistent with the process followed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in its investigations.

Auction
The bill includes a study of the loan auction included as part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (P.L. 110-84). The bill requires the Department of Education to assess other types of potential auction mechanisms for other federal student loans in addition to Parent Plus loans.

Title V: Developing Institutions

Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI)
The bill includes a new program to boost graduate opportunities for Hispanics. Under the new graduate HSI program, the Secretary is authorized to award grants to institutions that offer graduate degrees to enable the institutions to purchase, rent or lease equipment; construct, maintain or renovate classrooms, labs and libraries; purchase books, journals, etc; provide graduate students with fellowships, scholarships and academic support; or support faculty exchanges, etc.

Title VI: International Education Programs

Graduate and Undergraduate Language and Area Centers and Programs
The bill promotes linkages between two and four year colleges as well as partnerships between local education agencies and individual schools.

Promoting Foreign Service
H.R. 4137 aims to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in the international service arena by encouraging collaboration with HBCUs and other MBIs.

Early Foreign Language Instruction
The bill establishes grants for foreign language partnerships between local school districts and foreign language departments at institutions of higher education.

Foreign Languages and Technology
H.R. 4137 includes grants to institutions of higher education to develop programs for the teaching of foreign languages.

Federal Marketing Campaign
The bill includes a marketing campaign to encourage high school students to study foreign languages.

Reporting
The bill includes a reporting requirement by title VI recipients of any funds provided by foreign governments or entities, in excess of $1 million, intended for indirect or direct use by a title VI center or program.

Title VII: Graduate and Postsecondary Improvement Programs

Jacob K. Javits Fellowships
These fellowships are awarded to students of superior ability selected on the basis of demonstrated achievement, financial need, and exceptional promise for graduate study in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The fellowships are awarded to students who are eligible to receive any grant, loan, or work assistance, and who intend to pursue a doctoral degree. H.R. 4137 includes clarifications with respect to stipends and allowances.

Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need
Currently, these fellowships are awarded to academic departments and programs at institutions of higher education that provide courses of study leading to a graduate degree in order to enable such institutions to provide assistance to graduate students who are studying in areas of national need. H.R. 4137 includes a priority for grants aimed at preparing professors to train teachers in the fields of science, technology, math, special education, and to train teachers with limited English proficiency.

Thurgood Marshall Legal Education Opportunity Program
This program provides stipends, preparation, and information to low-income, minority, or disadvantaged college students to gain access to and complete law school study.

Patsy Mink Fellowship
The newly established Patsy Mink Fellowship program provides awards to assist highly qualified minorities to acquire terminal masters degrees or doctorate degrees in academic areas where minorities are underrepresented.

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)
The Secretary is authorized to make grants to, or enter into contracts with, institutions of higher education, combinations of such institutions, and other public and private nonprofit institutions and agencies, to enable grantees to improve postsecondary education opportunities. The bill includes several new initiatives in FIPSE, as follows:

• a scholarship program for family members of veterans or members of the military;
• a demonstration program for homeless youth and those in foster care;
• programs aimed at ensuring the success of non-traditional students in postsecondary education;
• support for increased fire safety on campuses;
• the establishment of a center for best practices to support single parent students; and,
• support for faculty and academic programs associated with American History.

Urban Serving Institutions
H.R. 4137 replaces the Urban Community Service program with the Urban Serving Institutions program. The program will provide incentives to urban-serving institutions to expand research, and develop and implement initiatives in partnership with community-based organizations. The collaboration will work to solve urban challenges while strengthening city economies.

Students with Disabilities
The bill includes several initiatives aimed at assisting students with disabilities to succeed in postsecondary education, including:

• Additional activities authorized under the Programs to Ensure Students with Disabilities Receive a Quality Higher Education, including the development of effective transition practices, improved distance learning strategies, and improvements in the overall accessibility of higher education;
• Establishment of a National Center for Information and Technical Support which will improve the dissemination of best practices related to working with postsecondary students with disabilities, provide information to assist students and their families, and improve the recruitment, retention and completion rates for students with disabilities;
• Support for model demonstration programs to help students with intellectual disabilities to succeed in postsecondary education, and a coordinating center to assist these programs;
• Model demonstration programs to improve timely access and quality of instructional materials in specialized formats for students with print disabilities, and a commission to study the feasibility of national technical standards and methods to improve the efficient distribution of these materials;
• A GAO study of the barriers and opportunities for the full participation of students with disabilities in higher education, including an examination of disability support services offices and the success rates of colleges and universities to recruit, retain, and graduate students with disabilities.

Nursing Education
H.R. 4137 includes two initiatives aimed at addressing the growing nursing shortage through programs to:

• expand the capacity of current programs to ensure a growing number of individuals are able to enter programs and become nurses; and
• increase the number of qualified nurse faculty.

Title VIII: Additional Programs

The bill creates a new title VIII that consists of new programs that recognize the growing challenges that institutions, students and families face in higher education.

Encouraging colleges to keep costs down through innovative methods. The bill authorizes programs to encourage institutions of higher education to keep tuition costs down and use innovative approaches to do so. These programs include rewarding institutions for low tuition, cooperative education grants, articulation agreement programs, and encouraging institutions to use environmentally-friendly sustainability approaches.

Ensuring that students enter, remain, and graduate from college The bill authorizes programs that encourage students, particularly those from traditionally underrepresented groups at institutions in higher education, not only to enter into, but to graduate from college.

These programs include:

• grants at community colleges to ensure that students needing remedial coursework continue through college;
• programs that align non-traditional students' academic and career goals;
• programs for high-need students to make the transition into college;
• programs to partner institutions and businesses in order to prepare students for employment and career ladders;
• and programs to support students and institutions of higher education in rural areas.

Addressing high need areas
The bill authorizes programs to address the unique needs in critical areas.

These programs include:

• the development of programs in science, technology, mathematics and science for Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians;
• the creation of a national database of scholarships for STEM fields;
• support programs for real-time writers and modeling and simulation; and
• a program to ease the transition of veterans returning from combat zones into higher education.

Combating "Diploma Mills"
The bill includes requirements and increased information to ensure the legitimacy of institutions of higher education. This bill defines what constitutes a degree-granting institution; requires the Department of Education to maintain a list of degree-granting institutions for federal employment and student visa purposes; and establishes a task force to review issues and possible solutions associated with diploma mills.

Campus Safety

• Grants to Institutions: The bill creates a grant program to assist institutions of higher education develop and implement state-of-the-art emergency systems and procedures to ensure the safety of all students, faculty and employees, and to improve safety overall on campus.
• Model Policies and Procedures and Future Disasters: The bill also ensures assistance to institutions of higher education in the development of policies, procedures, and practices to be used in the case of an emergency. The bill requires the Secretary to develop and maintain a disaster plan in preparation for emergencies.
• Disaster relief loan program: To ensure that institutions have a steady flow of cash to re-open as soon as possible, the bill establishes a loan program to be made available to institutions of higher education in the event of a disaster.

Title IX: Amendments to Other Laws

The bill makes changes to the Education for the Deaf Act, the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act, the higher education amendments of 1998 and 1992, Justice Department programs, and the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980.

Education for the Deaf Act
The bill amends the Education for the Deaf Act to include requirements that the elementary and secondary schools operated by Gallaudet University adopt academic achievement standards, assessments and adequate yearly progress measures consistent with the No Child Left Behind Act. Tuition surcharges for international students at Gallaudet and National Technical Institute for the Deaf are also adjusted to allow for a sliding scale based upon student need and for reductions in costs for students from developing countries.

Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act
The bill adds a new title to the Tribally Controlled Colleges Act to allow for the designation of tribal colleges focused on technical and vocational education. This title replaces a program at the Department of Interior which is eliminated by H.R. 4137.

Higher Education Amendments of 1998 and 1992
The bill modifies the grants to states for workplace and community transition training for incarcerated youth offenders to allow programs to serve all offenders, regardless of age and time in incarceration.

The bill reauthorizes programs including the underground railroad and Olympic scholarships.

Office of International and Foreign Language Education
H.R. 4137 creates an Office of International and Foreign Language Education at the Department of Education to be operated by an Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education.

Justice Department Programs
The bill includes the Department of Justice public defenders forgiveness program.

Additionally, the bill allows individuals who are employed by a government agency to receive loan forgiveness from an institution of higher education for their public service.

The bill also creates a National Center for Campus Safety at the Department of Justice working in collaboration with the COPS program.

Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980
The bill includes the establishment of the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology program, within the Department of Commerce, which provides funds to MSIs to integrate technology into campus activities and ensure that students have access to technology.

Title X: Private Student Loan Transparency and Improvement

Title X's private student loan provisions require lenders to follow certain terms and procedures when soliciting or making private loans for postsecondary education expenses. It directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and other financial regulatory agencies to issue regulations implementing the new standards. It also requires the Department of the Treasury to undertake efforts to enhance financial literacy among students and the GAO to prepare a report on issues related to private educational lending.

Title X also increases the disclosure requirements for lenders of private educational loans.

Gift Ban
The bill prohibits postsecondary education institutions, their officers, and their employees from receiving any gift from a private lender in exchange for any advantage to the lender in its loan activities.

Ban on Revenue Sharing
The bill prohibits lenders from sharing the profits from their loan activities with higher education institutions in exchange for some advantage to the lender in its loan activities, including offering or providing gifts to postsecondary educational institutions or their employees.

Bans Co-Branding
The bill prohibits lenders from co-branding their loans with the institution's name, emblem, mascot, or logo in any way that implies a school's endorsement.

Ban on Participation on Advisory Councils
The bill prohibits school financial aid officials from serving on any advisory council of private educational lenders.

Bans Prepayment Fees and Penalties
The bill prohibits private loan lenders from charging borrowers fees for paying off their loans early.

Provides for an effective period of approved interest rate and loan terms. The bill requires lenders to give applicants up to thirty days following the approval of a loan to accept it with no changes in terms except an index to determine the interest rate.

Right to Cancel
The bill requires lenders to grant borrowers up to three days to change their minds after entering into a loan agreement with a lender.

Provision of Information
The bill requires lenders to notify a borrower's school of a proposed loan of $1,000 or more.

Financial Literacy Enhancement
The bill requires the Department of the Treasury to identify and evaluate programs at institutions of higher education that enhance the financial literacy of college students, and subsequently to encourage the implementation of such programs that the department finds to be most effective.

GAO Study
The bill requires the GAO to prepare a report on the impact of non-individual factors, such as cohort default rate and graduation rates, on the pricing of private education loans among institutions of higher education. The report will also examine the extent to which those factors affect the availability of private loans to certain borrowers or certain schools.

Loan Disclosure Requirements
The bill requires lenders to make additional disclosures to borrowers at three stages of the loan application process: (1) advertisement or solicitation of loans, (2) approval of loan applications, and (3) consummation of loans.

Written Acknowledgment of Receipt of Disclosure
The bill requires private loan lenders to obtain a written acknowledgment from a borrower that the borrower has read and understood required disclosures.

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For more information, contact:

TG Congressional and Legislative Relations
(512) 219-4503
P.O. Box 83100
Round Rock, TX 78683-3100