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HEA Legislation Includes Hundreds of New Reporting Requirements

Jan. 8, 2008

As Congress returns from its holiday recess, the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) is once again on the agenda. 

The Senate approved its version of the reauthorization (S. 1642) on July 24 and the House Education and Labor Committee has readied a bill (H.R. 4137) that is expected to be considered by the full House in the coming weeks.

Of particular concern to the higher education community is the large number of new reporting requirements in both bills. In the House measure, a minimum of 189 new requirements address such topics as college cost, student loans, file sharing, and textbook pricing. 

In the area of college costs, H.R. 4137 creates a “higher education price index” that will reflect annual changes in tuition and fees at individual institutions. Schools whose tuition or fee increases exceed the index would be placed on a “watch list” and required to convene a “quality-efficiency task force” to review their operating costs as compared to similar institutions; results of the task force review would be published on the Department of Education’s College Navigator web site. 

Colleges would also be required to publish net price information by income in all application materials. In order to meet this requirement, institutions would be required to adopt the Department’s net price calculator or develop their own.

In response to the recent scrutiny regarding student loans, the bill includes several new requirements for institutional disclosure regarding financial aid. Colleges and universities must compile an annual report for each lender with which they have education loan arrangements and include details of the lender disclosure form provided to students and an explanation of why the terms and conditions of each type of loan under the agreement are beneficial to student and parents. Institutions with preferred lender agreements must provide a list of such agreements and relevant details, including why the lender was selected. 

The bill also requires institutions to provide policies and procedures related to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer file sharing to students and staff, as well as to develop plans for alternatives to illegal downloading and “technology-based” deterrents to prevent such activity. 

Other reporting requirements include reports on retail prices for required and recommended texts and related materials for all courses offered, expansion of crime reporting categories, fire safety disclosures and logs, and the identification of the names and addresses of any entities or individuals who contribute $1 million or more under Title VI to any institution.

For full details, see the following overview of the reporting requirements in both the House and Senate bills prepared by the American Council on Education.