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Update From Washington

Update From Washington. Brittny McCarthy Director, Federal Relations American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) August 15, 2007. Federal Higher Education Landscape. Appropriations Budget Reconciliation Higher Education Act Negotiated Rulemaking. Appropriations.

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Update From Washington

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  1. Update From Washington Brittny McCarthy Director, Federal Relations American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) August 15, 2007

  2. Federal Higher Education Landscape • Appropriations • Budget Reconciliation • Higher Education Act • Negotiated Rulemaking

  3. Appropriations • Fiscal Year 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations • House • Full House passed a “Labor H” bill with largest increase to the maximum Pell Grant award in seven years– to $4,700. • Includes increases to TRIO, GEAR UP, HSIs, HBCUs, and international and foreign language education. • Senate • Appropriations committee passed a bill that keeps Pell Grant frozen at $4,310- the fiscal year 2007 level. • Boosts funding for TRIO and GEAR UP. • No floor action taken before August recess.

  4. Appropriations Analysis • Differences in House and Senate Priorities • Veto Threats • Relationship with budget reconciliation • Omnibus? Government shut down?

  5. Budget Reconciliation • What is “budget reconciliation”? • House and Senate have passed (very different) “budget reconciliation” bills. • House: The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 (H.R. 2669) • Senate: The Higher Education Access Act of 2007 (S. 1762)

  6. Budget Reconciliation Bills Need to be Reconciled • Both bills decrease lender and guaranty agency (GA) subsidies to pay for new mandatory spending on education programs. • House: Reduces lender and GA subsidies by $37 billion over 10 years. • Senate: Reduces lender and GA subsidies by $42 billion over 10 years.

  7. Budget Reconciliation Bills Need to be Reconciled • Pell Grants • House: Dedicates $19 billion to new Pell funding over 10 years, using current Pell program structure. • Senate: Dedicates $30 billion in new Pell Grant funding over 10 years, creating a new parallel structure. • Student Loan Interest Rates • House: Reduces borrower interest rate for new subsidized Stafford loans over five years from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent. • Senate: No similar provision

  8. Budget Reconciliation Bills Need to be Reconciled • Student Loan Limits • House: Increases the Stafford undergraduate dependent loan limit from $23,000 to $30,000. • Senate: No similar provision • Teacher Grants • House: Creates the TEACH grant program for students who agree to teach specific high-need subjects for at least four years in high needs schools. • Senate: No similar provision

  9. Budget Reconciliation Bills Need to be Reconciled • Economic Hardship Student Loan Deferment • House: Establishes a new Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan and retains current Income Contingent Repayment (ICR)program • Senate: Also creates an Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan, but eliminates current ICR. • College Costs • House: Creates a system by which colleges would be added to a "list" if their tuition increases exceed a certain level • Senate: No similar provision

  10. Budget Reconciliation Bills Need to be Reconciled • What now? • Conference Committee Compromise • Veto Threat

  11. Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act • House • Has not yet introduced a bill to reauthorize the HEA. • A bill is expected this fall. • Senate • On July 24, the Senate passed the Higher Education Amendments Act (S. 1642) 95-0.

  12. Senate Higher Education Act • Provisions of Note • Accreditation and transfer of credit language • Earlier versions of language identified by higher education community as “troubling” were amended. • State higher education data pilot program

  13. Senate Higher Education Act • Senate Floor Consideration of HEA • Eight amendments were passed by voice vote. • Two amendments received roll call vote: • Brown Amendment, failed 37-54 • Coburn/Kennedy Amendment, passed 93-0 • Several amendments expected to be offered, were not. • Textbooks, P2P file sharing, and reporting of the relationship between Pell Grants and increases in tuition.

  14. Questions? AASCU CONTACTS Ed Elmendorf Sr. Vice President for Government Relations elmendorfe@aascu.org Brittny McCarthy Director of Federal Relations mccarthyb@aascu.org Dan Hurley Director of State Relations hurleyd@aascu.org Pat Smith Policy Scholar smithp@aascu.org AASCU Headquarters 202-293-7070 www.aascu.org

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