Senate HELP Committee Holds First Hearing on HEA Reauthorization

October 16, 2003

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held their first hearing for reauthorization of the Higher Education Act today. The focus of the hearing, entitled "Promoting Access to Postsecondary Education: Issues for Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act," was to gather information on ways to increase access to higher education while maintaining quality, improving efficiency, and keeping it affordable. Testimony was provided by the Dr. George Waldner, president of York College of Pennsylvania; Jamie Merisotis, president of The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP); Shane Hollett, the executive director of the Ohio College Access Network; and Troy Lambert, a student at the University of Maryland.

All of the witnesses stressed the importance of early intervention programs as a tool for increasing access to postsecondary education, especially for low-income, first-generation college students. It was agreed that the combination of the misperception about the price of postsecondary education and the availability of and qualifications for federal financial aid deter these students, in many instances, from even applying to college. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) challenged the panelists to rewrite the FAFSA in a manner that would simplify the aid process yet still enable the government to accurately award aid to students.

Another issue of interest to the Committee was how to increase the effectiveness of postsecondary education, namely how to provide quality education to the largest possible number of students while controlling the cost. Senator Alexander was very interested in the idea of year-round education, stating that institutions would be able to educate more students annually and the students would be able to graduate in a more timely fashion, thus reducing their overall cost for attending. Additionally, in his opening statement, Sen. Alexander stressed the importance of accreditation's role in quality assurance, given the fact that accreditation serves as a gatekeeper for Title IV eligibility.

While distance education was not addressed in depth, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) did mention it as a way to increase access to postsecondary education, especially in rural areas and for large geographic areas with small populations and limited numbers of higher education institutions. Sen. Enzi has taken a particular interest in distance education, and earlier this year introduced S. 1203, the Distance Education and Online Learning Act of 2003, which is currently stalled in Committee.

The idea that increased aid amounts from the government leading to tuition increases by institutions was discussed in some depth. One witness maintained that, contrary to popular belief, there is no hard evidence to support this hypothesis. Instead, decreased state support to public institutions has caused the cost increase to students.

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