Ambitious Agenda, Ticking Clock
Interest groups, students have lengthy wish list, but Congress may not tackle everything this fall.
By Charles Dervarics
W ith lenders and low-income students jockeying for position, Congress returns from summer recess this month with ambitious plans — but little time — to enact some of the most far-reaching student aid policy changes in a generation.
Topping the agenda is a 2008 budget bill that would take billions in subsidies to student loan providers and re-direct the money as aid to needy students. The White House has threatened to veto one version of this all-encompassing budget bill, while lawmakers in both chambers still must reconcile competing House and Senate proposals.
Elsewhere, long-time Capitol Hill watchers also predict protracted discussions on a 2008 education funding bill for hundreds of U.S. Education Department programs, while several groups want action on legislation to help immigrant children better afford college.
Add in the prospect of another bitter debate over the Iraq war, and the congressional plate is clearly full. “With the Iraq debate, there’s not a whole lot of time,” says Barmak Nassirian, the associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. Here is a brief outlook at some of the key higher education topics up for discussion:
