The U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to approve a sweeping piece of legislation that would set federal higher-education policy for the next six years. But, to win support for the measure, Republican Congressional leaders softened or eliminated several key provisions that were unpopular with college leaders and lobbyists. A controversial proposal that would have revised the formula used to distribute funds for the government's campus-based student-aid programs was dropped. The House also voted to significantly weaken legislative provisions designed to get colleges to curb their tuition and fee increases and to put restrictions on institutions' transfer-of-credit policies. In addition, the House agreed to strike from the bill a proposal that would have allowed states to become accreditors.
The bill's failure to increase student aid and lower the costs of student loans was especially egregious, Democrats said, because it followed on the heels of the passage of a budget-cutting bill that slashed about $12-billion from the government-backed student-loan programs at the heart of the reauthorization measure.
Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education
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