REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT

WHEREAS, the Higher Education Act was enacted for the first time in 1965 for the purpose of strengthening the nation’s colleges and universities and providing financial assistance for students in postsecondary education; and

WHEREAS, the current Higher Education Act authorization expired on Sept. 30, 2004 and has been extended on a temporary basis several times; and

WHEREAS, the act covers a wide range of important areas, including student assistance such as Pell Grants and student loans, teacher quality and institutional aid; and

WHEREAS, the future of our nation is dependent upon the excellence and access of our higher education institutions including strong support of appropriate academic staffing; and

WHEREAS, support for higher education must be among our nation’s highest priorities, which in turn means that strengthening and enhancing the Higher Education Act must be among the highest priorities for the 109th Congress; and

WHEREAS, the current Pell Grant level of $4,050 is woefully below the authorized level of $5,800; and

WHEREAS, the federal appropriations for 2005 Pell Grants eliminated 90,000 financially needy students from receiving Pell Grants altogether and reduced Pell Grants to as many as 1.2 million more students, thereby adversely affecting the ability of these students to access higher education; and

WHEREAS, the Higher Education Act plays an important role in maintaining quality, access, diversity and openness; and

WHEREAS, legislation was introduced in the 109^th Congress to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA); and

WHEREAS, AFT along with the National Education Association produced a set of guiding priorities for reauthorization that were distributed to every member of Congress; and

WHEREAS, the majority of members in the 109^th Congress were unreceptive to these priorities or to strengthening the principle of equal access to higher education; and

WHEREAS, the newly elected 110^th Congress, which will need to reconsider the unfinished work of reauthorizing HEA, offers an opportunity for positive change and moving higher education forward in a direction that will benefit students, their families, and this country.

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers work with other higher education unions and associations to bring about a successful reauthorization of the Higher Education Act; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT, working with other higher education unions and associations, seek to promote the following priorities:

• Ensure, first and foremost, that students with the greatest financial need receive sufficient federal aid to attend college. This can be accomplished by:

   

   

   

   

   

  • providing more grant aid to the lowest income students and restoring the lost purchasing power of the Pell Grant.
  • stablizing Pell Grant funding by ensuring that grants are provided to all who are entitled to it under the program’s eligibility requirements.
  • ensuring that the federal system for analyzing student need addresses fairly the financial needs of working and nontraditional students, including child care needs.
  • ensuring that students in good standing who otherwise qualify for student financial aid are not excluded from the programs based on their legal status, or that of their parents.
  • broadening the scope of loan forgiveness for educators in high need public schools to include all subject areas.
• Provide controls to guard against fraud and abuse at institutions run for a profit, particularly distance education programs, by:

   

   

   

  • reinstating the 50 percent rule that limited federal funding for colleges offering most of their instruction through distance education, which was eliminated in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
  • retaining the "90/10" rule, which ensures that institutions participating in the student aid programs have a sound and independent financial base.
  • opposing a change in the definition of an "institution of higher education" that would allow for-profit institutions to participate in the total range of federal higher education programs, not just student aid.
• Maintain and strengthen programs that provide students with the services they need to succeed including:

   

   

   

   

   

  • retaining and expanding campus-based educational support programs such as TRIO, Upward Bound and Gear-Up;
  • increasing support for the International Studies programs in Title VI.
  • providing new grants to colleges with large numbers of nontraditional students to improve student persistence.
  • opposing the use of graduation rates to reward or punish colleges and universities as that measure does not accurately assess student retention or assist students in improving persistence.
  • providing increased funding to graduate education programs under Title VII of the HEA.
• Encourage the provision of educational opportunities that reflect the growing diversity of the U.S. student population by:

   

   

   

   

  • maintaining funding for institutional aid programs currently authorized under Title III and V that provide aid to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Hispanic Serving Institutions.
  • expanding support for institutions serving large numbers of recent immigrants and students for whom English is not a first language.
  • strengthening programs to help colleges recruit and retain diverse undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty.
  • supporting a separate program to support institutions serving a large number of Asian-Pacific Islanders.
• Uphold and promote academic freedom in speech, teaching and research by:

   

   

   

  • ensuring that international scholars and students visiting this country continue to have full access to institutions of higher education.
  • maintaining the independence of Title VI international studies programs and resisting the creation of a federal oversight board.
  • firmly rejecting proposals to insert a so-called "Student Bill of Rights" or "Academic Bill of Rights" into the HEA, which would have the effect of imposing an ideological litmus test on the appointment of faculty, curriculum development and classroom teaching.

• Strengthen teacher preparation by expanding resources and offering greater  coherence to the way teacher education prepares teacher candidates.