Advocate Online

From Capitol to Campus

President Bush's reelection and the larger and more conservative Republican majority in Congress is good news for the for-profit higher education industry and for-profit lending institutions. Unfortunately, it's not such good news for low-income students hoping to attend college or for basic science researchers whose research goals are out of line with the political priorities of the President and the Republican leadership.

Congress will most likely begin early in the new session to finish up work on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which governs most federal student aid programs. The President promised on the campaign trail to encourage Congress to relax some of the Act's rules governing student-aid programs.

One of these is the 90-10 rule, requiring profit-making institutions to get at least 10 percent of their revenue from sources other than the federal government, such as tuitions and fees. The rule exists to prevent fraud in student-aid programs.

As for student aid, because of the Iraq war and mounting budget deficits, it is unlikely that the President or Congress will increase appropriations to properly fund Pell Grants. The outlook is better for tuition tax-break plans that benefit middle-class and wealthier taxpayers.

Also, while Bush is not expected to try to kill the Direct Student Aid program, he is expected to be friendlier to the for-profit student loan industry.