Hope Springs Eternal for New Higher Education Act

Despite some early partisan skirmishes over student-loan programs, members of Congress say they are optimistic that the Higher Education Act will finally be reauthorized in the two-year span of the 109th Congress.

The HEA, the main federal law that governs the flow of billions of dollars of federal aid to colleges and universities, was last reauthorized in 1998. Despite much work in the 108th Congress, lawmakers could not come to agreement on the details of reauthorizing the law. It has twice been extended for one-year periods.

“We are at a point where we need reauthorization and need a signal from Congress on what the prevailing philosophy will be going forward,” said Sharon Robinson, the president of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, based in Washington. She added that since the breakdown of talks over the reauthorization at end of the last congressional session, “we have come a long way. It is looking like the conversations are more focused and substantive...