What the Higher Education Opportunity Act Means for You
In August, the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) was officially signed into law in the hopes of making colleges more affordable, accessible, and responsible. Political buzzwords and legal mumbo jumbo aside, how will this new legislation affect your college plans and college experience?
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If you’re still choosing a college, keep an eye on the Department of Education’s College Navigator and see how your college options might impact your wallet. You can look at tuition and aid info for specific schools, the number of years it will most likely take you to graduate, and soon you’ll be able to look at which colleges have the steepest tuition hikes. You can also check out the official FAFSA4caster to estimate the cost of your education.
If you’re a low-income, first-generation, or minority student and aren’t sure if you’ll be ready for college, look into programs like TRIO and Upward Bound that aim to serve as a support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These two recently got a funding boost from the HEOA. You may also benefit from increased size and eligibility of Pell Grants and other aid.
If you think you’re applying for financial aid, you can look forward to an easier FAFSA (thank goodness), scheduled to gradually shrink over the next five years. If you’ve filed a FAFSA before, re-applying will be much simpler. Low-income families can even already use the two-page FAFSA EZ. Plus, you might be eligible for the bigger grants and loans, new full-year Pell Grants, and expanded work-study programs.
If you’re nervous about your student loans, the law strives to protect students from unfair and deceptive lending practices. The HEOA requires that borrowers get more information on your loans and receive information more often, that you have access to whatever lenders you choose, and that you have ample time to make decisions about your grants and loans.
If you fainted at the cash register at the bookstore, you’ll be happy to know the HEOA takes up issue with textbook costs. One of the biggest schemes to pump up prices is the practice of bundling extra materials (CDs, workbooks, etc.) along with the book. The law demands textbook publishers make every one of these package deals available in unbundled form, so consumers have a cheaper choice. The legislation also calls for publishers to provide more information on their textbooks to colleges and for colleges to provide more information on textbooks to their students. The key here is accountability.
If your tuition just went up, your college has to tell the government why-again, a practice towards accountability. The HEOA also encourages colleges to keep tuition down by offering grants and incentives to schools that are providing innovative means of price control.
If you’re a military veteran or on active duty or have a family member who is, you may be eligible for a new scholarship and increased aid. You should also be seeing more support systems to help you get through college successfully.
If you have a disability, look forward to stronger federal resources and support systems. College Navigator will have more information on how specific schools are serving disabled students. Also, even if you haven’t gotten a Pell Grant before, the HEOA expands need-based aid eligibility for students with disabilities.
If you’re thinking about becoming a nurse, teacher, public defender, or taking another public service job, you may be eligible for up to $10,000 of student loan forgiveness once you score that job (in other words, you wouldn’t have to pay for those loans).
If you care about environmental sustainability, you can hope your college will take advantage of new grants to promote sustainable practices and design. The HEOA also introduced the first college sustainability summit, to discuss the issue and solutions. Check out this post on schools that already lead the pack on going green.
Most of all, the thrust of this measure is accountability. The HEOA wants you to have more access to information and, ultimately, access to college. College can be affordable, and you can have the resources to succeed in your education. The aim of the HEOA is to make sure qualified students take advantage of that.
