Higher Education Reauthorization

Work is still being done in Congress to reauthorize the programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Senate and House each passed different bills and work is currently being to work out the differences between those two bills. 

On June 30th, 2008, the President signed another extension of the current Higher Education Act into law.  This new extension will expire on July 31st, 2008.

Status
Senate	S.1642 passed
House	H.R.4137 (Majority bill) passed

Senate

On July 24, 2007, the Senate passed S.1642, the Higher Education Amendments of 2007, to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 by a vote of 95-0. The House and Senate bills will now go to conference, so that a compromise can be worked out between the bills before a final version goes to the President for his signature.

In terms of provisions directly affecting international education, the legislation:

• Establishes a University and College Accountability Network, among other things, as part of an effort to make college tuition costs more transparent, requiring campuses to report extensive information, such as institutional mission, student-faculty ratio, tuition fees, graduation rates, safety plans, and student activities, such as study abroad.
• Applies a broad and flexible definition of "critical foreign language" to all relevant provisions in the Higher Education Act.
  
• Reinstates the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships for undergraduates studying foreign languages and international studies.
• Allows a portion of funding through the Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) program to be used for advanced language learning and cultural understanding through study abroad.
• Requires international studies programs and Title VI centers applying for federal funds to show how they will "reflect diverse perspectives and a wide range of views."
• Asks the Secretary of Education, in collaboration with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of other relevant federal agencies, to submit a biennial report to identify areas of national need in foreign languages and international studies as they relate to government and private sector needs.
• Expands the eligibility for the Academic Competitiveness Grant program under Title IV to include undergraduates studying critical foreign languages. Additionally, the legislation expands both the National SMART Grant program, which is available to qualified students studying math, science, or critical languages, and the Academic Competitiveness Grant program to include eligibility for part-time students, legal permanent residents, and certificate student programs.
  
• Requires foreign medical schools, within two years' time, to increase the percentage of students who pass the medical exams necessary to practice in the United States from 60 percent to 75 percent. The amendment also asks that a GAO study to be conducted on the effectiveness of foreign medical schools in preparing students, the number of Americans who pursue medical degrees abroad, the rate of malpractice suits against such graduates as compared to compared to graduates of U.S. schools, and the percentage of foreign medical school graduates who currently pass the medical exams the first time.
• Expands the grants available under Title VII Special Projects for areas of national need to include the development, evaluation, and dissemination of model programs that provide students with a broad knowledge base and include sufficient enough foreign language coursework for reading and writing competency.

Full text of S.1642 (970kb )

House of Representatives

The House passed H.R. 4137, The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007, a bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act for five years. The bill was unanimously passed by House Committee on Education and Labor earlier this year. The House and Senate bills will now go to conference, so that a compromise can be worked out between the bills before a final version goes to the President for his signature. Representatives George Miller (D-7th, Calif.) and Ruben Hinojosa (D-15th, Texas) introduced H.R. 4137 on November 9, 2007.

In terms of provisions directly affecting international education, the legislation:

• Asks institutions, on a voluntary basis, to disclose information about tuition, demographics, student activities, etc., including information on study abroad opportunities as part of the University and College Access Network (U-CAN).
  
• Defines "critical foreign language" to mean: "each of the languages contained in the list of critical languages designated by the Secretary in the Federal Register 15 on August 2, 1985 (50 Fed. Reg. 149, 31412; promulgated under the authority of section 212(d) of the Education for Economic Security Act (repealed by section 2303 of the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988)), except that in the implementation of this definition with respect to a specific title, the Secretary may set priorities according to the purposes of such title and the national security, economic competitiveness, and educational needs of the United States."
• Expands the Academic Competitiveness Grant program to include legal residents as well as part and full time students studying critical foreign languages at all post-secondary educational institutions.
  
• Establishes the Foreign Language Partnership Program to award grants to universities in partnership with one of more local educational agency to create teacher preparation programs in critical foreign languages, and to establish activities that will enable students to advance from elementary school to college achieving proficiency in these languages.
• Forgives loan debt for students graduating with degrees in critical foreign languages, who are employed either as a teacher at the elementary or secondary school level and teaching that foreign language, or are employed in a position with the U.S. government that requires regular use of that foreign language.
• Would allow the Secretary of Education to modify auditing requirements for foreign institutions whose students receive less than $500,000 in Title IV loans.
• Expands the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grants to include undergraduate students and allows grant money to be used for opportunities abroad for the study of less commonly taught languages.
• Updated the findings for Title VI programs by deleting reference to "post-Cold War" and updated the purposes to incorporate linkages with overseas institutions and integrating international business and trade competitiveness among the areas for which cooperative efforts are needed among the Federal government, institutions of higher education, and the private sector.
• Amends the Graduate and Undergraduate Language and Area Centers and Programs to allow grant funds to be used for instructors of the less commonly taught languages and "projects that support in students an understanding of science and technology in coordination with foreign language proficiency;" and allows additional grants for the National Resource Centers for strengthening outreach to state and local school districts as well as to allow partnerships or programs of linkage and outreach with 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities to include "colleges of education and teacher professional development programs."
  
• Allows up to 10% of Title VI program funds to be used for educational programs abroad that are closely linked to the program's overall goals and has the purpose of foreign language fluency.
• Amends the Research and Studies program under Title VI to include the systematic collection, analysis and dissemination of data.
  
• Adds "manufacturing software systems, technology management" to the areas for which the Centersfor International Business Education (CIBERs) must provide research and training.
• Establishes the Preparing for Early Foreign Language Education program to awards educational institutions and agencies in partnership together to improve the performance of students in the study of foreign languages. The program would be authorized at a "such sums" level.
• Establishes the Science and Technology Advanced Foreign Language Program, an institutional grant program to encourage students to develop an understanding of science and technology fields along with achieving foreign language proficiency. The program would be authorized at a "such sums" level.
• Requires that safety policies and procedures be submitted as part of the Title VI grant application for any funds that will be used for purposes of student travel and study abroad.
• Requires the Sec. Education to launch a marketing campaign to encourage students to study foreign languages, particularly less commonly taught languages that are critical to U.S. national security.
• Implements a new reporting requirement for Title VI centers receiving funding from other sources in excess of $1 million,. This new reporting procedure will require them to disclose names and addresses of donors and the amount of the donation. It exempts anonymous domestic donors from this, but does not exempt anonymous foreign donors.
• An amendment was offered by Rep. Rush Holt (D-New Jersey) and adopted to establish an Assistant Secretary for International Education and Foreign Languages to oversee the operations of all international education programs housed within the Department of Education.