The upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 provides opportunities and presents challenges for financial aid administrators. This article outlines steps that aid administrators can take and challenges they may face in preparing for and responding to new legislation.

This document records testimony from a hearing before the Committee on Education and the Workforce that was held to discuss challenges and opportunities in higher education. The committee has worked in recent years to make changes that will strengthen America's higher education system and help ensure a college degree is accessible and affordable.…

Competency-based education is increasingly popular because of the flexibility it provides for students seeking a postsecondary credential. Current federal student aid, however, is geared toward supporting students in traditional, time-based degree programs. This paper discusses why current approaches to federal student aid are not supportive of…

The purpose of this regulatory action is to amend the regulations governing the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program (§ 685.200 of title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)). These regulations strengthen and improve administration of the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Program authorized under title IV of the Higher Education…

For nearly half a century, the federal government has largely outsourced the determination of which colleges and universities are eligible to receive federal taxpayer money--in the form of student grants and loans--to member-based, geographically oriented accrediting agencies. This outsourcing of responsibility, however, has failed to protect…

Both federal spending on financial aid and student loan default rates have increased over the past decade. These trends have intensified policymakers' concerns that some postsecondary institutions-- particularly in the for-profit sector--maximize revenue derived from federal financial aid without helping students to graduate or find employment.…

The federal government's role in supporting higher education touches nearly every aspect of the work performed by American colleges and universities. Federal authorities control an immense amount of public resources that are used to strategically exert influence across a complex and differentiated postsecondary system. This report is intended to…

The purpose of this hearing was to examine the burdensome regulations imposed on institutions of higher education and accrediting bodies by the Department of Education. In late 2010 the administration introduced regulations on 14 separate higher education issues. While many of these new regulations inject the federal government into areas that…

This paper presents the fourth Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on the federal rules and regulations that undermine the strength of this nation's education system. Congress has purposely never defined the term "gainful employment," despite its presence in the statute for the past 50 years. It was decided that any attempt to define…

For-profit, or proprietary, colleges are the fastest-growing postsecondary schools in the nation, enrolling a disproportionately high share of disadvantaged and minority students and those ill-prepared for college. Because these schools, many of them big national chains, derive most of their revenue from taxpayer-funded student financial aid, they…

This study examines the institutional factors associated with student loan default. When a college has more than 30% of its students default on their loans, then the institution faces federal sanctions that could make them ineligible from participating in the federal student loan program. Using Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System…

For-profit, or proprietary, colleges are the fastest growing postsecondary schools in the nation, enrolling a disproportionately high share of disadvantaged and minority students and those ill-prepared for college. Because these schools--many of them big national chains--derive most of their revenue from taxpayer-funded student financial aid, they…

The growth over the last decade of the for-profit sector of higher education (also known as the proprietary sector) has been well documented. In 1999, for-profit colleges and universities enrolled approximately 629,000 students, or a little over 4 percent of the nation's 15.2 million students. By 2009, this sector had increased to 2.2 million…

Three years after signing the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965--legislation that established the Basic Education Opportunity Grant (now called the Pell Grant)--President Lyndon Johnson declared that "every man, everywhere, should be free to develop his talents to their full potential--unhampered by arbitrary barriers of race or birth or income."…

This publication provides a nontechnical summary of the U.S. Department of Education's discretionary grants process and the laws and regulations that govern it. This document is intended for individuals and organizations that are interested in applying to the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) for discretionary grants and cooperative…