Posts Categorized: Student Aid

DC Shuttle: Congress Looks to Redraw PK-12, Higher Ed Laws

Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is due for reauthorization and proposals have been introduced in the House and Senate. (The last reauthorization of ESEA was the No Child Left Behind under President George W. Bush.) On July 19, the House passed the Student Success Act (H.R. 5). The bill would reduce the federal role in public education and c...

Obama’s Higher Ed Proposals

When President Obama outlined his higher education agenda in Buffalo last week, commentators tuned out the beat of war drums (this time against Syria) and began dissecting the president's plan on the college front. The overriding question: Can the new models conceived of by consultants and think tanks over the past decade—and now advanced by the president—work to lower cost without sac...

DC Shuttle: Loan Rate Bill on to WH; Workforce Reauthorization Trudges Ahead; Info From For-Profits Deemed Inconsistent

Student loan interest rate bill sent to president. On Wednesday, the House approved the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act (H.R. 1911) by a vote of 392 to 31. The Senate passed the legislation the previous week and the bill is headed to the president, who has endorsed the legislation, for approval. The bill would modify how interest rates on federal student loans are set, tying interest rates t...

NEBHE and Partners Unveil Green Guidance

NEBHE is a partner on a new report titled Green Revolving Funds: A Guide to Implementation & Management, which provides practical guidance for designing, implementing and growing a green revolving fund (GRF) at a college, university or other nonprofit institution. The newly expanded guide establishes best practices from interviews with presidents, facility managers, sustainability directors, ...

DC Shuttle: Many Progressives Wary of Senate-Approved Loan Rate, GOP Ed Reforms

Senate approves student loan interest rate bill. On Wednesday, the Senate approved the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act by a vote of 81 to 18. House leadership has promised swift approval of the legislation, with a vote in the House likely this week. The bipartisan proposal would tie interest rates on undergraduate subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans to the 10-year Treasury note plus 2...

DC Shuttle: SCOTUS Ruling Suggests Colleges Can Continue to Use Diversity as Admissions Tool for Now; Congress May Revisit Loan Rate Debate After Recess; US Spends Most on Ed

Supreme Court affirmative action ruling. On Monday, the Supreme Court released a ruling in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. The 7-1 decision was indecisive, remanding the case for reconsideration in the lower courts and directing lower courts to use "strict scrutiny" in affirmative action cases. The result of the ruling is that schools will continue to be able to use diversity ...

DC Shuttle: Teacher Quality Under Scrutiny on Capitol Hill

House committee OKs ESEA reauthorization. On Wednesday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved a proposed reauthorization to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by a vote of 23 to 16. The bill, the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), introduced by Committee Chair John Kline (R-MN), would consolidate most federal funding into one block grant. The proposal would eliminate t...

DC Shuttle: Harkin Proposes Student Accountability Systems

ESEA reauthorization approved by committee. At a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) markup on Tuesday, lawmakers considered the Senate Democrats' proposal, the Strengthening America's Schools Act, to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). A bill (S. 1094) introduced by Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) advanced by a party-line vote of 12-10 des...

DC Shuttle: Still Wrestling with Student Loan Interest; No Child Left Behind

Student loan rates. The Senate rejected two proposals to extend low interest rates on student loans after they expire on July 1. Without legislation, interest rates will double from 3.4% to 6.8% with the expiration of the one-year fix put in place last summer. Movement to proceed with a Senate Democratic bill (S. 953) to extend the current 3.4% fixed interest rate for two additional years was reje...

Learning Channels: WGBH Creates a Higher Ed Desk

WGBH Boston is creating a Higher Ed Desk to help enrich its award-winning radio, television and online stories with angles from Boston and New England's famed postsecondary education. America’s largest producer of PBS content for TV and the web, WGBH hired Vermont Public Radio's Kirk Carapezza as managing editor and lead correspondent of the Higher Ed Desk. The desk is supported through m...