HACU Member Advisory--July 13, 2006

Title V of the HEA and the Status of the Two Year Wait Out Period

During the past two congressional sessions (108th and 109th) the House Education and Workforce Committee reviewed higher education policy and accepted testimony from the nation’s education community for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.  In July 2005 the House Education and Workforce Committee completed work on HR 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005, commonly referred to as the HEA (Higher Education Act), sent the bill to the House floor on March 30, 2006 and adopted HR 609 by a 221-199 vote.

The Senate also developed an HEA reauthorization companion bill (S 1614). On September 8, 2005 the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee marked up the bill and on February 28, 2006 ordered the bill placed on the Senate Legislative calendar. To date, no further action on S 1614 has been forthcoming.

Through the efforts and support of HACU members, we were able to include in both House and Senate bills three major provisions in Title V: the creation of a new HSI graduate program and the elimination of both the 2 year wait out period and the low income provision for eligibility for Title V Grants.

Due to partisan disagreements on specific provisions (unrelated to Title V and HSIs) within the Senate bill, it has yet to be sent to the Senate floor for debate and passage.  As a result, the HEA Reauthorization bill remains locked in the Senate.

Because of the urgency of eliminating the 2 year wait out period and the concern that the HEA bill may not be passed this congressional session, the HACU Government Relations staff is working on other ways to more immediately correct the two year wait out problem.  We are exploring other legislative vehicles such as an amendment to eliminate the 2 year wait out period attached to an appropriations bill.  We are committed to pursuing all legislative avenues and will continue to do so until this measure is passed during this legislative session either as an amendment to a moving bill or as part of the HEA Reauthorization bill.

We are optimistic that, with your support, we can be successful in attaching the 2 year wait out period elimination as an amendment to one of four appropriations bills which can be accomplished during conference this session.

We will be calling on you to assist our office to encourage key legislators to support our efforts.

Should you have any questions about HR 609, S1614, or any other legislation pending in Congress, please do not hesitate to contact Richard Lopez, Executive Director for Legislative Affairs, or Gumecindo Salas, Vice President for Government Relations, at (202) 833-8361.   

HACU Member Advisories are a service of

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.