Could Congress Pass a New Higher-Education Law Before 2020?

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Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican of Tennessee, confirmed on Monday that he hopes to get the Higher Education Act reauthorized within the next year. Doing so could cement his legacy as a bipartisan dealmaker as chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Speaking in a panel discussion at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, and later on the floor of the Senate, the former college president and U.S. secretary of education laid out three broad strokes of a proposed bill.

At the top of Alexander’s list is his long-term goal of simplifying the Free Application for Federal Student Aid by paring the number of questions a student must answer from 108 to 25 or fewer.

Second, all students who borrowed federal loans should be automatically enrolled in one of just two repayment plans, with the payments deducted from their paychecks. One option is for students to pay 10 percent of their income for 20 years, with any remaining balance forgiven after that. The other option is a fixed payment over 10 years, like a mortgage plan.

Third, Alexander wants a new accountability system for colleges that would be based on the rate of graduates’ loan repayment, measured for each program offered by a college. “This should lower tuition for some programs, or even discourage schools from offering programs that are not worth it to students,” he said in prepared remarks.

The news of Alexander’s plans, by itself, does little to increase the likelihood that a divided Congress could come to an agreement on legislation. The senator, who has announced that he will not seek re-election next year, also sought to reauthorize the Higher Education Act last year, but no such bill was introduced in his committee.

This time, however, Alexander’s plans are accompanied by pledges of bipartisan cooperation. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the committee, will begin negotiations on legislation in the coming weeks.

“This is a moment for us to step up and do the hard work of negotiating a comprehensive reauthorization that truly works for students, families, and borrowers, and I hope we can remain committed to tackling the tough issues to get that done,” Murray said in a news release.

Some left-leaning groups responded to Alexander’s plans with cautious optimism but noted that many difficult details would have to be worked out and be agreeable to Democrats, who have a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. They have the outline of their own bill, with many provisions that may not be acceptable to Republicans in the Senate.

“Senator Alexander showed he is serious by laying out concrete ideas while moving away from the most divisive ideas proposed by conservatives last year,” said James Kvaal, president of the Institute for College Access and Success. “Reauthorization is gaining steam. Still, he will have to do more on affordability and accountability for predatory colleges to get a bill through Congress.”

Eric Kelderman writes about money and accountability in higher education, including such areas as state policy, accreditation, and legal affairs. You can find him on Twitter @etkeld, or email him at eric.kelderman@chronicle.com.