The long-delayed renewal of the Higher Education Act is back on the fast track thanks to recent action in the House of Representatives. But now a team of House and Senate negotiators must reach a final agreement on dozens of key provisions with potential gains for low-income students and minority-serving institutions.
Similar to the SenateHEA bill approved last year, the Housemeasure approved lastmonth recommends a significant increase in Pell Grants over the next decade. It also has at least four major provisions of interest to MSIs, including a new $250 million program to address the digital divide at historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal colleges.
“We’ve been waiting 10 years” for action on HEA renewal, says Edith Bartley, government affairs director at the United Negro College Fund. On several high-priority issues for MSIs, she adds,“There ismomentumnow.”
The long-discussed plan to help HBCUs, HSIs and tribal colleges address the digital divide is a key case in point. Though it has languished in recent years, the plan has now cleared the House and Senate but in somewhat different forms. Both chambers would allocate $250 million, though the Senate would house the program at the U.S.Department of Education while the House would place it at theDepartment of Commerce.
“It’s a better fit at Commerce,” Bartley says. House and Senate negotiators will have to decide the final spot for the program, but the recent action shows the concept has strong bipartisan approval.
Two other key provisions for HBCUs are in the House-passed bill, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, but not the Senate measure. One House provision would increase the lending authority of the HBCU Capital Financing Program from $375 million to $1.1 billion. The program offers low-interest loans for college improvements, and the ongoing credit crunch hasmade the programevenmore important toHBCUs,Bartley says.
“These institutions often don’t have access to large capital or large endowments,” she adds.
