HIGHER ED Act
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Helping Improve Grants for Higher Education & Repayment of Expensive Debt Act or the HIGHER ED Act
This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to:
modify the Federal Pell Grant program to increase the maximum award and restore year-round grants,
make graduate and professional students eligible to receive subsidized Stafford Loans under the Federal Direct Loan program,
direct the Department of Education to refinance outstanding federal student loans for Direct Loan and Federal Family Education Loan program borrowers,
include a part-time job as a faculty member within the definition of "public service job" for purposes of the public service loan forgiveness program, and
establish additional terms and conditions applicable to the income-based and income-contingent repayment plans.
Additionally, the bill amends the federal bankruptcy code to permit a borrower to discharge in bankruptcy a nonprofit, government, or private student loan, or an obligation to repay an educational benefit, scholarship, or stipend.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on September 28, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 18, 2016: Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
PETER DEFAZIO (D-OR) introduced it on September 28, 2016. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 28, 2016, 3634 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3614 days ago, on October 18, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers