[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 143 (Thursday, November 20, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S6207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN:
  S. 2954. A bill to improve the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am proud to introduce my comprehensive 
proposal to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, the main law 
governing institutions of higher education in this country. My bill, 
the Higher Education Affordability Act, is the product of extensive 
conversations between both parties in Congress and stakeholders across 
the higher education community. Over the past year, our Senate Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has held 12 bipartisan 
hearings on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act on issues ranging 
from teacher preparation and accreditation to federal student loans and 
the States' role in higher education. These hearings were purposely 
designed to better inform members of Congress and the public on the 
most pressing issues in higher education and how best to address them 
at the federal level.
  In June, I put forward a discussion draft that included many of the 
ideas and policies discussed in our hearings. I asked the entire higher 
education community--including institutions, accreditors, and student 
advocacy organizations--to weigh in and offer suggestions on how best 
to strengthen my initial proposal.
  I am pleased to say they delivered abundantly on that request. We 
received comments from over 120 organizations from across the country. 
What I have put forward today is a direct result of our hearings and 
the feedback we received. This bill provides clear guidelines based on 
all the work we have done to date on how we should move forward with 
reauthorization in a way that puts students and families first. It 
takes a holistic approach in addressing the most urgent issues in 
higher education: increasing college affordability, helping struggling 
borrowers, strengthening accountability, and improving transparency 
throughout the higher education system.
  On the matter of affordability, my bill includes a number of policies 
designed to reduce college costs for students on the front end. It 
proposes a new federal partnership with States to incentivize them to 
reinvest in their systems of higher education. For too long, States 
have been cutting funding for their institutions of higher education 
and passing those costs onto students and their families. This is a 
trend in cost-shifting that must stop. The bill also reinstates year-
round Pell Grants to enable students to get their degrees faster and 
establishes a pilot program to reward institutions that do a good job 
of graduating low-income students. My bill also creates two grant 
programs to promote statewide and institutional innovation in higher 
education. Making sure college is affordable requires an all-hands-on-
deck approach: the Federal government, states, students and their 
families all need to do their part.
  We also hope to empower students and families through greater 
transparency by giving students and families better information on 
college costs and outcomes from the beginning of the college selection 
process and all the way through graduation. The bill promotes a 
seamless process from high school to post-graduation to ensure that 
students know exactly what they are getting into with regard to college 
quality and costs before they get started.
  On the matter of student debt, my bill takes a range of steps to help 
student borrowers better manage their loans. It provides for better up-
front and exit counseling for students regarding their federally 
guaranteed loans. It eliminates fees on federal loans to save students 
money. My bill also strengthens consumer protections for student loans, 
and it creates a safety net for borrowers who are seriously delinquent 
on their loans by automatically enrolling them in an income-based 
repayment plan with affordable monthly payments. To ensure that private 
student debt is treated no differently than any other consumer debt, my 
bill would allow private student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy, 
as they were before the law was changed in 2005.
  My bill would hold schools more accountable to both students and 
taxpayers by ensuring that no Federal money goes to marketing and 
advertising instead of education. I am also introducing new metrics, 
including a repayment rate, by which to better measure schools' 
performance. The bill also changes the current ``90/10'' rule to ``85/
15'' to ensure that for-profit schools are not wholly subsidized by the 
Federal government. For those bad actors making record-breaking profits 
through fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars, my bill includes a number 
of provisions designed to penalize this behavior and to stop it.
  Our country has reached a critical point in higher education. Beyond 
disagreements on specific policy issues, we must come together to 
decide whether higher education should be preserved, first and 
foremost, as a public good. Over the past two decades, rising college 
costs have been shifted unfairly onto the backs of students and 
families. The central question we must ask is whether this accelerating 
trend is the right direction for this country--whether paying for 
college should be the sole responsibility of students and families or 
our shared responsibility as a nation. My bill reflects the overall 
belief that all stakeholders--states, the Federal Government, students 
and families--should invest together in higher education to keep 
college affordable and accessible to all. Our country's economic future 
and the promise of equal opportunity depend upon this critical 
investment.
  It is unacceptable to ask students and their families to shoulder the 
bulk of college costs. Historically, this has never been the case, and 
we should not allow this unfortunate trend to grow worse. My bill would 
get us back on the right track, ensuring that our higher education 
system is affordable, transparent, and ultimately accountable to our 
students and taxpayers. Higher education should serve as an equalizer 
of opportunity for all, and that is a promise that we must fulfill 
together.
                                 ______