Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; Higher Education Act; and Policy and Law: Federal

A run down of various issues being debate over legislation to renew the Higher Education Act.

"The latest salvo in the entertainment industry’s campaign against illegal downloading of movies and music — aided and abetted by Congress — is wrong, and students should help fight it, Kenneth C. Green argues."

"If the Higher Education Act bill that House Democrats introduced late last week did not persuade college leaders that the issue of college prices is and will remain front and center on the federal policy agenda, the House education committee’s consideration of the legislation Wednesday should once and for all."

The U.S. Senate education committee fleshed out its bipartisan package of legislation to renew the Higher Education Act Tuesday, calling for $17 billion in new funds for Pell Grant recipients and $18 billion in cuts to student loan providers over five years. The Senate panel also revised a Higher Education Act renewal bill it had released Monday in several key ways, most notably abandoning a plan to require accreditors to ensure that colleges do not discriminate against for-profit colleges in their policies on the transfer of academic credit.

"The panel that advises the secretary of education on accreditation issues has grown increasingly controversial in recent months, as many college and accrediting officials have accused the Education Department of trying to use the committee to compel colleges and universities to collect and report more extensive data on student learning — without the need for new laws or federal rules. "

"The plan for months has been for the U.S. Education Department to propose changes in federal regulations governing the higher education accreditation system by July, with the goal of having them take effect a year from now, before the Bush administration ends. But if department officials stick to that plan now, they will have to directly defy Congress to do so. "