NEWS RELEASE
CONGRESSMAN BART STUPAK 1ST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
************************* Higher education reform expected to become law
Bill includes Stupak provisions to provide loan relief for school administrators, extension of Olympic scholarship
WASHINGTON - (August 7) - U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) joined overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the U.S. House and Senate in passing final legislation last week that would address the soaring price of college tuition and make it easier for qualified students to go to college.
By votes of 380 to 49 in the House and 83 to 8 in the Senate, Congress approved the Higher Education Opportunity Act (H.R. 4137), which would reform and strengthen the nation’s higher education programs to ensure that they operate in the best interests of students and families.
The legislation builds on efforts to make college more affordable and accessible for all qualified students.
Last year, Congress enacted into law a $20 billion increase in college financial aid over the next five years, the largest increase in student aid since the G.I. Bill of 1944.
“High college prices are putting a college degree further out of reach for many Michigan students,” Stupak said. “In addition to rising tuition, students and their families face an overly complex federal student aid application process. This bill is an important step in reversing those trends and reforming higher education to put students first.”
The final passed bill, which President Bush is expected to sign, included a provision authored by Stupak that would provide federal student loan relief to principals and administrators in low-income schools.
Any federal loan borrower who has been employed as a full-time school superintendent, principal or other administrator for five consecutive years in an eligible low-income school, including 241 schools in northern Michigan, would be eligible for loan relief.
“Like teachers, qualified school administrators and principals are crucial to creating an effective learning environment,” Stupak said. “Under current law, if a teacher is eligible for loan forgiveness, but is promoted to an administrative position in that same school, they lose access to the loan forgiveness program. This bill addresses that problem, helping low-income schools recruit and retain the talented school administrators they need.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects the demand for primary and secondary school principals to increase by 12 percent between 2006 and 2016.
At the same time, teachers are becoming less inclined to seek administrative positions, many believing the modest pay increase is not enough to compensate for the greater responsibilities.
BLS also notes that school administrators will remain in greater demand in rural and urban areas, where pay is generally lower than in the suburbs.
In the most recent study by Michigan State University’s Education Policy Center, 60 percent of Michigan superintendents said their district faces a shortage of qualified principal candidates.
For a school to be considered low income, 30 percent or more of the students must come from low-income households.
In the 2007-2008 school year 2,325 primary and secondary schools in Michigan qualified as low-income, with 241 of those located in Stupak’s northern Michigan congressional district.
Stupak’s provision was endorsed by the National Education Association, the American Association of School Administrators and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
The bill also included a five-year reauthorization of the Olympic education scholarship program, which provides scholarships for student athletes to attend college while training to represent the United States in the Olympics.
Northern Michigan University in Marquette, a U.S. Olympic education center, administers this program for the U.S. Department of Education.
“Before this scholarship program existed, many Olympic hopefuls had to put off earning a college education while training to represent our country in the Olympic Games,” Stupak said. “This scholarship program has made it so Olympic hopefuls no longer have to make a choice between their dreams and a college degree.”
In addition to these important priorities for northern Michigan, the bill includes comprehensive reforms to our nation’s higher education system.
An October 2007 report from the college board showed that, over the previous five years, tuition and fees had increased across the board, at public and private colleges and at two-year and four-year colleges.
In Michigan, tuition and fees at a public four-year college grew by 11 percent between the 2006-2007 school year and the 2007-2008 school year.
The bill would address these rising prices by encouraging colleges to rein in price increases, ensuring that states maintain their commitments to higher education funding, providing students and families with consumer friendly information on college pricing and the factors driving tuition increases, and streamlining the federal student financial aid application process.
The legislation also strengthens provisions previously approved by the House to avoid conflicts of interest in the student loan programs.
The bill’s new provisions include requiring better consumer disclosures and protections on private student loans.
Together these protections form a bill of rights for college consumers, Stupak said.
“As families are increasingly turning to student loans to finance a college education, we must ensure consumer protections are in place for students and their families,” Stupak said.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act would also:
- Make textbook costs more manageable for students by, among other things, helping them plan for textbook expenses in advance of each semester.
- Allow students to receive year-round Pell Grant scholarships.
- Strengthen college readiness and support programs for minority and low-income students.
- Increase college aid and support programs for veterans and military families.
- Improve safety on college campuses and help schools recover and rebuild after a disaster.
- Ensure equal college opportunities and fair learning environments for students with disabilities.
- Strengthen our nation’s workforce and economic competitiveness by boosting science, technology, and foreign language educational opportunities.
H.R. 4137 is a comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the primary federal law aimed at expanding college access for low- and middle-income students.
If enacted, this would be the first time the Higher Education Act was reauthorized since 1998.
The current law expired in 2003.
*************************