Advocates seek additional funding through a couple of bills under consideration in Congress.

Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas

With a short-term federal funding increase set to expire soon, minority- serving institutions and their advocates on Capitol Hill are moving on several fronts to make permanent at least some of these valuable gains.

In a fiscal 2010 education appropriations bill and the newly proposed Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, advocates are seeking to consolidate increases achieved in 2007. At that time, the College Cost Reduction Act steered an extra $500 million to minority-serving institutions — in addition to regular appropriations — with the proviso that the additional funding would end in 2009.

Since President Barack Obama’s inauguration in January, groups representing historically Black colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal colleges have sought to extend that short-term funding. Organizations say the need for long-term extra funding is significant given the effects of the recession on colleges.

While the Obama White House has endorsed only small increases for these colleges, Congress is taking steps to extend the large investments approved in 2007.

One potential solution is the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which would provide MSIs with a guaranteed $255 million in annual supplemental funding for the next 10 years. The bill also would fund large Pell Grant increases into the future. Congress would pay for these initiatives through savings generated from a phaseout of bank-based student loans in favor of government-run Direct Loans.

“This bill accomplishes something we can all be proud of,” says Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, DTexas, chairman of the House post-secondary education subcommittee. “The bill will streamline the fi nancial aid application process and increase funding for Pell Grants and minority-serving institutions while also helping lower our national defi cit.”