Summary of final HEA legislation: U.S. Department of Education begins public hearings
On Aug. 14, 2008 the Higher Education Opportunity Act (P.L. 110-315) was signed into law by President Bush. Passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, the legislation effectively reauthorized the Higher Education Act for the first time in more than 10 years.
Aimed at making college more affordable, the broad 1,150 page bill creates 64 new programs and addresses a host of issues including the availability of Pell Grants, FAFSA simplification, college cost transparency, college access for low-income and minority students and requires institutions and lenders to adopt codes of conduct.
The final bill includes a number of important provisions that Sallie Mae actively supported, including measures that (1) help ensure that students maximize low-cost federal aid before turning to private loans; (2) simplify the FAFSA; and, (3) improve the cohort default rate measurement.
A high-level summary of the final legislation (PDF, 76KB) is available.
While many of the provisions outlined in the legislation became effective immediately, others are subject to the negotiated rulemaking process or become effective after regulations are released. For example, many of the provisions regarding private student loan disclosures will be addressed in regulations written by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
The Department of Education is also holding a series of public hearings to gather the higher education community’s input on how best to implement the provisions subject to the negotiated rulemaking process. The public hearings are being held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the following dates:
- September 19, 2008, at Texas Christian University, Brown-Lupton University Union, 20901 Stadium Drive, Fort Worth, Texas
- September 29, 2008, at the University of Rhode Island, Feinstein Providence Campus, Paff Auditorium, 80 Washington Street, Providence, Rhode Island
- October 2, 2008, at Pepperdine University, Smothers Theater, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California
- October 6, 2008 at Johnson C. Smith University, Technology Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
- October 8, 2008, at the U.S. Department of Education, 8th Floor Conference Center, 1990 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC
- October 15, 2008 at Cuyahoga Community College, Corporate College East, 4400 Richmond Road, Warrensville Heights, Ohio
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