Dive Summary:
- The House Committee on Education and the Workforce's Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training held a hearing Tuesday to discuss the Higher Education Act (HEA), which expires at the end of the year, and federal student aid programs.
- Subcommittee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx proposed that, if the HEA is authorized for the tenth time since its enactment in 1965, new programs could become components of the existing legislation, and that financial aid applications could be simplified by tying them to students' IRS information.
- Other members of the subcommittee discussed the diminished "purchasing power" of the Pell Grant, decreasing state funding for higher education and the changing demographics and repayment capabilities of student loan borrowers.
From the article:
... In her opening remarks, Rep. Foxx noted that there is a possibility that financial aid applications could be simplified by linking applications with student IRS information. Additionally, she believes that other financial aid models -- including campus-based federal aid and student aid tied to student income -- are likely to become incorporated in a reauthorized HEA package. Moving student loan interest rates towards “market-based formulas,” she said, could also create more stability for taxpayers and borrowers alike. ...