House committee approves Democrats’ $400B higher education overhaul

Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee on Thursday advanced their roughly $400 billion plan to revamp federal higher education policy after a markup that stretched over three days.

The committee voted 28-22, along party lines, to approve the Democrats’ bill, H.R. 4674 (116), to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The measure now heads to the House floor. Chairman Bobby Scott (DVa.) has said he wants to see it passed by the end of the year.

The sweeping legislation calls for implementing tuition-free community college, increasing Pell Grants and other forms of student aid, expanding public service loan forgiveness and allowing existing federal student borrowers to lower their interest rate.

Republicans opposed the measure, criticizing the overall increase in federal spending on higher education in the bill as well as what they said was too much emphasis on four-year degrees at the expense of career and technical training. GOP lawmakers also took issue with provisions of the legislation that targeted for-profit colleges.

Democrats defeated dozens of GOP amendments to the bill, including proposals to ease restrictions on for-profit colleges and prohibit student aid to undocumented students. Other Republican amendments targeted sanctuary cities, perceived political bias in college classrooms and academic boycotts of Israel.

The committee considered nearly 50 amendments over three days of debate.

On Thursday, the final day of the markup, the committee adopted the following amendments:

— An amendment in the nature of a substitute by Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) that makes several changes to the original bill, including further increasing funding for Pell Grants and reviving subsidized federal student loans for graduate and professional students. It was adopted on a voice vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.) that would require the Government Accountability Office to study states' policies that revoke a student loan borrower’s professional or driver’s license as a penalty for defaulting. An amendment by Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.), regarding career and technical education, which included changes that were proposed by Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), adopted by voice vote. The Shalala and Thompson amendments were considered together and adopted on a 45-0 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) that would require colleges and universities to conduct background checks on adults working with student athletes, which included changes proposed by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) and adopted onto the amendment on a 26-22 vote over Republican objections. The amended Comer amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) that would require colleges to disclose to prospective students if their non-instructional expenditure costs increase 5 percent from one year to the next. It was adopted on a 47-0 vote.

The committee rejected the following amendments on Thursday:

— A substitute amendment by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) that proposed a sweeping GOP alternative to Democrats’ entire proposal. The amendment, dubbed the High-Quality Opportunities in Postsecondary Education Act, borrowed from H.R. 4508 (115), which was the main GOP legislation offered to rewrite federal higher education law during the previous Congress, though Republicans said there were some fundamental differences between the two pieces of legislation. The Foxx substitute was rejected on a 21-27 vote.

— An amendment by Thompson that would have allowed for-profit education providers to participate in the bill’s expansion of Pell Grants to short-term training programs. It was rejected on a 20-25 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) that sought to prohibit state financial aid to undocumented students. It was rejected on a 19-26 vote.

— An amendment by Allen that would have prohibited funding to states that have any sanctuary cities. It was rejected on a 21-25 vote.

— An amendment by Comer that would have prohibited student loan borrowers convicted of crimes against children from benefiting from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. It was rejected on a 20-24 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) that would have prevented some federal grants from going to academics who support boycotts against countries, which he said was aimed at boycotts against Israel. It was rejected on a 20-26 vote.

— An amendment by Grothman that would have eliminated the bill’s requirement that colleges tell students about their eligibility for food stamps. It was rejected on a 21-26 vote.

— An amendment by Grothman that would allow universities to determine their student loan limits. It was rejected on a 21-26 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) that would have made changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. It was rejected on a 22-26 vote.

— An amendment by Comer that would have removed from the bill a new requirement for colleges seeking religious exemptions to Title IX to notify their students about the exemption. It was rejected on a 22-26 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) that would have required at least one person to represent business on college accreditation boards. It was rejected on a 23-25 vote.

— An amendment by Johnson that would have required colleges to certify that health centers take actions necessary to care for “born alive” infants. It was rejected on a 22-26 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) that would have excluded 529 college savings accounts from counting against a student’s federal aid eligibility. It was rejected on a 22-26 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) that would adjust the implementation of changes to the cohort default rate for certain programs. An amendment by Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) that would require all institutions of higher education to adjust to changes to cohort default rates. The amendments were considered together and rejected on a 22-24 vote.

— An amendment by Cline that would add the text of H.R. 4098 (116), which would have made changes to federal student loans and accreditation. It was rejected on a 9-37 vote.

— An amendment from Meuser that would remove a requirement that the secretary of Education enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding student loans. It was rejected on a 22-26 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Fred Keller (R-Pa.) that would have repealed the language in the original bill that replaces the 90-10 rule on for-profit colleges with an 85-15 rule. It was rejected on a 22-26 vote.

— An amendment by Keller regarding the ability of education providers that are otherwise ineligible for federal student aid to access funding through partnerships with colleges and universities. It was rejected on a 22-26 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) that would have expressed the sense of Congress that college professors have become increasingly political, to the detriment of students. It was rejected on a 22-26 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) that would have eliminated the bill’s effort to restore the concept of the Obama-era gainful employment rule. It was rejected on a 22-25 vote.

— An amendment by Rep. Steve Watkins (R-Kan.) that would have eliminated some of the bill’s provisions related to accreditation. It was rejected on a 22-26 vote.

On Wednesday, several amendments were added to the legislation.

The panel adopted by voice vote a Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) amendment, amended by a Andy Levin (DMich.) amendment, that would aim to increase access to funds made available by Title III.

The committee rejected by voice vote an amendment from Johnson that would require colleges to receive written consent from students before sharing any identifiable student information.

An amendment from Walker that would require colleges to abide by state laws regarding name, image and likeness rights of student athletes was withdrawn.

Read about the amendments adopted and rejected on Tuesday here.