House passes Higher Education Act

Nevertheless, the final version of the bill fell far short of what the AFT and many others would like to have seen, and the AFT did not support it. Hours before its passage, 117 amendments were proposed, more than 80 of them by Democrats. But Republicans allowed only 15 to be voted on in what AFT legislative associate Gabriella Gomez calls “a very restricted and closed process.” The union’s influence was felt as it kept legislators informed on the AFT’s positions on the bill and amendments, and as members, activated by the AFT’s e-mail alert system, sent their representatives some 1,300 letters and 1,200 e-mails and faxes opposing or supporting various elements of the bill.

The vote for passage was 221 to 199, mostly along party lines.

AFT activism did help push through these important changes:

■ The House struck down language that would have changed transfer of credit rules so that colleges would have less control over the kinds of accredited institutions from which they accept credits. This would have been a boon to for-profits that gain national, not regional, accreditation. Another amendment, also defeated, would have allowed states themselves to accredit colleges.

■  Representatives voted against a requirement that colleges report on race, ethnicity and national origin in admissions, a measure that conservatives wanted so as to more closely track institutional behavior in the wake of U.S. Supreme Court affirmative action rulings. The AFT was one of the first higher ed organizations to object to this amendment, which failed when 142 Republicans joined every Democrat to vote against it.

Among the AFT’s more serious concerns with the bill, also known as the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005, were:

■  Weakened student aid programs: The bill shortchanges Pell Grants, the cornerstone of federal aid for low- and middle-income students, and fails to address the high cost of student loans. An amendment that would have cut student loan interest to 3.4 percent, about half of what it is now, was defeated. The maximum Pell Grant went from $5,800 to $6,000—mere window-dressing because the maximum allocation has been frozen at $4,050 for the past three years.

■  “Academic Bill of Rights” language that interferes with academic freedom.

■  Less protection against fraud and abuse by for-profits: A long-standing fraud and abuse provision that prohibited institutions from offering more than 50 percent of their classes online was struck down. These institutions will now be eligible to receive federal aid despite the difficulty in monitoring their online activities and the potential for fraud.

■  The adoption of the Adjunct Teacher Corps, which along with the Teacher Incentive Fund is not the most effective way to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers, especially in the hardest-to-staff schools.

Other issues that engaged the House included increased requirements for colleges to report tuition increases. This measure was defeated.

The AFT will continue to monitor the progress of the Higher Education Act, which the Senate will take up next.