Advocates for limited government power often suggest including sunset dates in legislation so bad laws have automatic triggers to end them. Yet this is already a common practice; however, our legislators actually use the practice for self-promotion by “rewinning” past victories with the Voting Rights Act or environmental statutes being examples of legislators’ self-congratulations.
Sometimes reauthorization of expiring statutes can be contentious as occurred recently with the Violence Against Women Act.

Meanwhile, publicly contentious laws may be extended before reauthorization by Congress extending their end date through inclusion in unrelated legislation such as a omnibus spending bill that is certain to pass. The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) is an example of such an extended statute.

The HEA is contentious because our country’s post-secondary education system has become dependent upon its funding. This ongoing evasion by Congress comes at a time when public criticism of post-secondary institutions and federal student loans are high. Meanwhile Republicans and Democrats cannot come to agreement on reforms while proposed reauthorization legislation ignores existing problems. Thus Congress kicks the can down the road until the next year or so.
Note that all law and policy related to federal post-secondary education finance such as loans and grants can be rewritten and reformed through reauthorization.

Unfortunately news reports of this situation are few and insufficiently clear as politicians do not benefit from drawing attention to their failures. Curious about the ongoing state of nothing being accomplished, several months ago I asked Google’s Bard (now called Gemini) about the status of HEA reauthorization.

Remember that like with an expert, an AI can be wrong and make up “facts.”  Yet, it is a good place to start research.

Question

What is the current status of reauthorizing the Higher Education Act of 1965?

AI Answer

The Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965 is the primary federal law governing higher education in the United States. It was last reauthorized in 2008 and has been operating on a series of temporary extensions since then.

There is a broad consensus that the HEA needs to be reauthorized, but Congress has been unable to agree on a number of key issues, including:

• How to make college more affordable
• How to improve the quality of higher education
• How to increase accountability for colleges and universities

In 2019, the House of Representatives passed a bill to reauthorize the HEA, but the Senate did not take action on the bill. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted negotiations on the HEA, and they have not since resumed.

In January 2023, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on the HEA reauthorization, but there is no clear timeline for when Congress will take further action.
Some of the key issues that are likely to be debated in the HEA reauthorization process include:

• College affordability: Congress will need to decide how to make college more affordable for students and families. This could include increasing Pell Grants, expanding access to tax credits, or making it easier for students to refinance their student loans.
• Quality of higher education: Congress will need to decide how to improve the quality of higher education. This could include increasing funding for research, improving the accreditation process, or requiring colleges to disclose more information about their outcomes.
• Accountability: Congress will need to decide how to increase accountability for colleges and universities. This could include requiring colleges to report on their graduation rates and student debt outcomes, or establishing new sanctions for colleges that fail to meet certain standards.

The HEA reauthorization process is complex and challenging, but it is an important opportunity to improve the higher education system in the United States.