Issue Position: Higher Education and the Higher Education Act (HEA)

Issue Position

Higher Education and the Higher Education Act (HEA)

Ensuring that all students who qualify have access to affordable and quality higher education is essential if America is to retain its competitive advantage in the global economy. However, as the cost of a college education continues to skyrocket, we must do all that we can to prevent the ability to pay from being the deciding factor for families sending their children to college.

The reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) was a much-needed and long overdue first step toward realigning our nation's higher education priorities. It preserved many well-known and widely-used federal grant and loan programs -- Pell, Perkins, LEAP, SEOG -- and increased loan limits for those eligible for federal programs. In addition, many of the new changes to the law affect the administration of higher education, meaning that students will have greater access to affordable education that will be operating under greater accountability to the federal government for price increases, safety regulations, and student information privacy.

We must continue to build on these reform efforts and continue to expand college financial aid, while at the same time making these federal programs simpler, more reliable, and more efficient for students. I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress and President Obama to lower the costs associated with student loans, increase funding for successful programs like federal work-study, and increase the amount of federally-financed and subsidized need-based student loans available to individuals seeking a higher education.

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