College students nationwide will continue to receive financial aid from the U.S. government to battle rising tuition costs after the U.S. House of Representatives extended the Higher Education Act last month.
The Higher Education Act, or HEA, which was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, was extended until June 30, 2007. This is not the first extension the act, which provides about $70 billion per year to students and families, has received. In the past year, it has been extended every three months.
Val Meyers, associate director of MSU's Office of Financial Aid, said if the HEA had not been extended, programs such as the Pell Grant, Stafford loans and work study — which help students pay for college — would be suspended, and students and colleges would not be able to receive those funds.
"When Congress decides to tackle the renewal, they may consider changes," Meyers said. "There is no way to know what will happen. It depends on what the politics are at the time."
Della Cronin, vice president of legislative and public affairs for Washington Partners, LLC, which is a government affairs and public relations consulting firm, said every six years the act expires, so government officials have the opportunity to re-evaluate the legislation.
When the act is investigated, government officials look at the number of students who are receiving at least a two-year degree, what they are doing with their education, their total cost of school, the students' demographics and how the funds are helping low- and middle-class families, Cronin said.
When government officials reauthorize the HEA, they will make changes to it, but they are very hard to predict, Meyers said.
"The changes are sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse," Meyers said. "It is impossible to know right now."
Zoology freshman Colleen Bumford said she thinks the act should be re-evaluated more often.
"Otherwise, it's not up to date with what's going on with the school," Bumford said. "If they don't re-evaluate it every six years or more, then the school will end up getting more money or less money than it needs. We are not getting what we deserve if they keep extending it."
The HEA not only provides students with funds for college, but also it provides vital information they need about college, she said.
"Outreach programs explain to at-risk students during their middle and high school years about the importance of college and what they need to do to get to college," Cronin said.
When the HEA was supposed to be voted on in March, it became a partisan debate because it is an election year, Cronin said. The U.S. Senate decided it didn't want to turn financial aid into a political decision and extended it until next year when government officials can focus more on the issue.
Politicians are putting students on the back burner and are more interested in getting votes, said psychology senior Rachael Steenbergh.
"As long as it is still helping us, let them do all their bureaucratic stuff," Steenbergh said. "They are putting more of a priority on votes than the people they represent."
Fredricka Paul can be reached at paulfred@msu.edu. Staff writer Tara Thoel contributed to this report.
