Advancing Educational Freedom

With the summer in full-swing, students and prospective students are making important choices about their higher education. Mary Anna Dennard, founder of CollegeAuditionCoach.com, writes in Huffington Post: College tuition is at an all-time high, as are the stakes for families across the country. Students struggle with decisions about where to apply and which major to choose. It’s a pivotal time f... Read more »

Today the committee will consider a number of legislative proposals as part of its continued effort to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. A report released last month confirms once again the value of receiving a postsecondary education. Researchers at the New York Federal Reserve asked whether the benefits of college still outweigh the costs and their answer was a resounding “yes.” The research... Read more »

The House Education and the Workforce Committee today advanced three bipartisan bills to reform the nation’s higher education system. As part of an effort to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, the legislative proposals will support innovation, strengthen transparency, and enhance financial counseling. “Today we made important progress in our effort to strengthen the nation’s higher education sy... Read more »

On Thursday, July 10 at 10:00 a.m., the House Education and the Workforce Committee, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), will mark up the Advancing Competency-Based Education Demonstration Project Act (H.R. 3136), the Strengthening Transparency in Higher Education Act (H.R. 4983), and the Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act (H.R. 4984). As part of an effort to reauthorize ... Read more »

THE PROBLEM The cost of obtaining a college degree has risen dramatically over the past decade. For example, since 2002 in-state tuition and fees at public four-year and two-year institutions increased by 51 percent and 35 percent, respectively. During this same period of time, the cost of attending a private four-year institution increased by approximately 25 percent. To exacerbate rising colleg... Read more »

House Education and the Workforce Committee leaders today joined a bicameral amicus brief to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as it considers whether to treat scholarship student athletes as “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act. The legal brief argues that college athletes are not employees under the law and treating student athletes as employees is unworkable: As a matter o... Read more »

House Education and the Workforce Committee members today introduced the first in a series of legislative proposals to reform the nation’s higher education system. The bills were introduced following the release earlier this week of a committee white paper outlining key principles for reauthorizing the Higher Education Act. “I want to thank all of my colleagues for their hard work crafting these c... Read more »

THE PROBLEM Across the country, tuition costs continue to go up and the job prospects many graduates face remain bleak. It has never been more critical for individuals to make responsible choices regarding how to pay for their postsecondary education. Unfortunately, many students are simply not equipped to make sound financial choices about their college careers. It’s not surprising considering t... Read more »

THE PROBLEM: Despite repeated attempts to enhance transparency in the higher education system, students and families still struggle to access important information that will assist in their search for the right college or university. The federal government provides financial assistance for millions of students to use at the institution of their choice. Yet students and families face a deluge of d... Read more »

THE PROBLEM: For many students and families, federal financial aid makes a postsecondary education possible. The time when a family begins the process of applying for financial aid is critical to ensuring students access the full range of assistance available to them. Unfortunately, the current process is not serving the best interests of students and families. A student’s application process sta... Read more »