History of Financial Aid.

Fact sheet about the history of financial aid

The Early History of the Higher Education Act of 1965
What was the Higher Education Act of 1965?
The Higher Education Act of 1965 was a legislative document that was signed into law on November 8, 1965 ��to
strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students
in postsecondary and higher education�� (Pub. L. No. 89-329).
Why is the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965 an important part of TRIO history?
The HEA created grants, loans and other programs to help students acquire education beyond secondary school.
The Talent Search program, then called Contracts to Encourage the Full Utilization of Educational Talent, was
created in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Today, all TRIO programs are authorized under the amended law.
Why was the Higher Education Act created?
In his January 1965 education message, President Johnson articulated the need for more higher education
opportunities for lower and middle income families, program assistance for small and less developed colleges,
additional and improved library resources at higher education institutions, and utilization of college and university
resources to help deal with national problems like poverty and community development. The HEA was a response.
What is the legislative history of the Higher Education Act of 1965?
On January 19, 1965, the Administration��s proposals to increase and improve resources at higher education
institutions and provide financial assistance to students in postsecondary education were introduced in the House as
bills, H.R. 3220 and H.R. 3221 and in the Senate as S.600. Later, proposals for teacher training programs were
introduced in the Senate as bill S.2302 on July 19, 1965.
The Special Subcommittee on Education conducted 13 days of hearings in Washington, D.C. (February 1-5 and
March 8-10, 12, 16-19, 1965) and 2 days of field hearings at the University of Chicago (April 30 and May 1, 1965).
The Education Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare held 12 days of hearings
(March 16, 22, 30, May 18-20, June 1-3, 7-8, and 11, 1965). The subcommittee also received recommendations
from student aid officers, professors and administrators through informal meetings and correspondence.
On July 14, 1965, the House Committee on Education and Labor, chaired by Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,
reported out a new bill, H.R. 9567, incorporating many of the provisions of H.R. 3220 and many of the suggestions
from higher education officials. On August 26, the bill passed the House and was sent on to the Senate. On
September 1, the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, chaired by Sen. Lister Hill, reported H.R. 9567
to the Senate with their amendments. The bill passed the Senate on September 2. In October, the House Committee
on Education and the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare met in conference to produce one version of
H.R. 9567 and reported it out on October 19. It was passed by the House and by the Senate on October 20.
President Johnson signed the bill on November 8, 1965 and it became Public Law 89-329.
Has the Higher Education Act been reauthorized since its enactment?
The Higher Education Act of 1965 was reauthorized in 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1986, 1992 and 1998. Before each
reauthorization, Congress amended additional programs, changed the language and policies of existing programs,
or made other changes. In 2004, the Higher Education Act is scheduled for the next reauthorization.

HERE's THE LINK (It's a PDF file) :
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:ObytIE5Yk98J:www.pellinstitute.org/Clearinghouse/shared/DYKHistoryofthe1965HEA03.doc+history+of+hea+1965&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us



Another interesting article about the new student loan bill
March 30, 2010, 12:21 pm
Obama Signs Bill on Student Loans and Health Care
By PETER BAKER AND DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – President Obama signed legislation Tuesday to expand college access for millions of young Americans by revamping the federal student loan program in what he called “one of the most significant investments in higher education since the G.I. Bill.”

Mr. Obama traveled to a community college where the wife of his vice president teaches to draw attention to the student loan overhaul attached to the final piece of health care legislation that passed last week. In signing the bill, he put the final touches on his health care program but used the occasion to highlight the education provisions.

“That’s two major victories in one week,” he said to a hall full of students and other guests at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College, where Jill Biden teaches English. While he touted again the health care overhaul, the president said, “what’s gotten overlooked amid all the hoopla, all the drama of last week is what’s happened with education.”

The new law will eliminate fees paid to private banks to act as intermediaries in providing loans to college students and use much of the nearly $68 billion in savings over 11 years to expand Pell Grants and make it easier for students to repay outstanding loans after graduating. The law also invests $2 billion in community colleges over the next four years to provide education and career training programs to workers eligible for Trade Adjustment aid.

The law will increase Pell Grant grants along with inflation in the next few years, which should raise the maximum grant to $5,975 from $5,550 by 2017, according to the White House, and it will also provide 820,000 more grants by 2020. Including money from last year’s stimulus program and regular budget increases, the White House said Mr. Obama has now doubled spending on Pell Grants.

Students who borrow money starting in July 2014 will be allowed to cap their repayments at 10 percent of their income above basic living requirements, instead of 15 percent. Moreover, if they keep up their payments, they will have any remaining debt forgiven after 20 years instead of 25 years – or after 10 years if they are in public service, such as teaching, nursing or serving in the military.

Mr. Obama portrayed the overhaul of the student loan program as a triumph over an “army of lobbyists,” singling out Sally Mae, which he said spent $3 million to stop the changes. “For almost two decades, we’ve been trying to fix a sweetheart deal in federal law that essentially gave billions of dollars to banks,” he said. He said the money “was spent padding student lenders’ pockets.”

But Sallie Mae said the law would end up costing jobs. The loan company has told news outlets that it may have to eliminate a third of its 8,500 jobs nationwide.

A number of lawmakers opposed the reconciliation bill in part because of the student loan provisions. Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, who voted in favor of the health care legislation in December, voted against the reconciliation bill. Nelnet, one of the nation’s largest private student lenders, is headquartered in Mr. Nelson’s home state.

Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee and a former education secretary, also spoke out angrily against the plan to end the subsidies to private banks. Tennessee, too, is home to some big players in the private student lending industry. In a statement Tuesday, he bemoaned the government getting more deeply into the loan business directly. “The Obama administration’s motto is turning out to be: ‘If we can find it in the Yellow Pages, the government ought to try to do it,’” Mr. Alexander said.

The senator said students would be overcharged on their loans with the proceeds used for the health care law. He also said that 31,000 private sector workers would be out of a job and students would be forced to rely on four federal call centers instead of more than 2,000 community and nonprofit lenders.

The president was introduced by Jill Biden and accompanied by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Representative George Miller, the chairman of the House education committee who shepherded the student loan measure into law. Mr. Obama said he had asked Mrs. Biden to host a White House meeting this fall on community colleges.

Addressing health care, Mr. Obama acknowledged that the new program “won’t fix every problem in our health care system in one fell swoop” but called it a “major step forward toward giving Americans with insurance and those without a sense of security when it comes to their health.”

The Republican National Committee countered with a statement citing various news reports about doctors and medical companies expressing concern about taxes on medical devices and tanning salons, cuts in Medicare payments to hospitals and other elements of the new law. The R.N.C. release was headlined: “Small Businesses, Doctors Continue to Brace for Costs of Obama’s Government Takeover of Health Care.”

The House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, wasted no time in blasting both the health and education components of the reconciliation bill.

“Today the president will sign not one, but two job-killing government takeovers that are already hurting our economy,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement. “Employers across the country are continuing to reveal the costly fallout from ‘ObamaCare’ – including new tax hikes and mandates that make it harder to hire new workers, and put health care benefits promised to workers and retirees in jeopardy. As the White House continues to ‘sell’ this new law, we are seeing the same pattern we’ve seen for the past year: the more the American people learn about it, the less they like it.”

But the “government takeover” argument may provide difficult to sustain. The health care bill is projected to direct more than 16 million new customers to private health insurance companies over the next 10 years. And the education changes essentially cut private banks out of what is already an entirely federalized program. The student loans are made using taxpayer money, with repayment almost entirely guaranteed by the federal government. The private banks get paid fees to originate the loans, and then sell them back to the government.

Mr. Boehner also said the education changes would cost “hundreds of jobs in America’s heartland.” But officials have noted that private firms will still be hired to do most of the loan service, and other back office administration; and federal regulations require that to qualify for those contracts the jobs must be performed in the United States. Previously, Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student lender, had outsourced many of those jobs to service centers overseas. Supporters of the changes say the only cuts are to the profit margins that allow the private banks to offer outsized pay packages and stock awards to their top executives.

Still, public apprehension about the legislation could give Republicans a powerful weapon in this year’s elections. “Republicans will fight to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with common-sense reforms that focus on lowering health care costs while protecting American jobs,” Mr. Boehner said.

An earlier version stated that 820,000 more Pell grants would be provided by the year 2011.

THE SOURCE: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/obama-signs-bill-on-student-loans-health-care/