Need-Based Educational Aid Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.

Mr. Speaker, S. 1482, the Need-Based Educational Aid Act of 2015,
would extend an exemption to the Federal antitrust laws that permits
some of our Nation's most prestigious colleges and universities to
agree to admit students on a need-blind basis and award financial aid
to students with the most demonstrated need.

I am pleased to serve as the lead Democratic cosponsor of the House
companion to this bipartisan legislation. S. 1482 allows colleges and
universities that admit students on a need-blind basis to collaborate
on the formula they use to determine how much families can pay for
college.

This exemption was first enacted in 1992, and since then, Congress
has reauthorized it four times without opposition, most recently in
2008.

In addition to allowing collaboration on a common formula for
calculating an applicant's ability to pay for college, the exemption
also allows academic institutions to agree to award aid only on the
basis of financial need.

In other words, this exemption ensures that the most qualified
students may attend some of our Nation's most prestigious schools,
regardless of family income. This is especially important for low-
income students, who should not be forced to choose between academic
institutions on the basis of financial need or financial aid alone.

While I think we could do more to empower students through better
funding of higher education, this legislation is critical to preserving
a level playing field for students at these institutions through a
need-blind admissions process.

The 568 Presidents' Group, a coalition of 23 prestigious colleges and
universities that support need-based financial aid, strongly supports
this bill.

In a letter sent to the Judiciary Committee earlier this year, the
568 Presidents' Group stated that the exemption allows institutions to
maximize the allocation of financial aid to ``ensure that those funds
are targeted to benefit the students with the greatest financial need
and to reduce or, in some cases, eliminate debt loads on graduation.''

Similarly, the presidents of Duke and Cornell have written in support
of this legislation, stating that the exemption ``makes a real
difference for our students'' and is essential to developing
the ``best practices to calculate institutional aid awards.''

We should move quickly to adopt this legislation and ensure that this
important exemption does not expire.

In closing, I thank my colleague Congressman Lamar Smith, the former
chairman of the Judiciary Committee, for his steadfast leadership on
this bill since the 105th Congress and during this Congress.

I also thank my Senate colleagues, Senate Judiciary Chairman Leahy
and Ranking Member Grassley, for their leadership on the bill.

I encourage my colleagues to support S. 1482, and I reserve the
balance of my time.

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