Welcome back to Higher Ed on the Hill where we break down the top issues driving higher education policy. In today’s edition, we’ll dive into Chairwoman Foxx’s College Cost Reduction Act (H.R. 6951).

Here’s a breakdown of the key bill provisions:

• Gutting the radical Gainful Employment Rule. Once discussed by the Obama Administration, this recently finalized 1,000+ page Rule will target career colleges by empowering bureaucrats to decide whether graduates within a certain program will earn a sufficient salary to repay their loans or more than an adult in their state who did not attend college… Failing either test would result in a loss of federal financial aid and a strong likelihood of school closure.
• Repealing the 90/10 Rule which has long discriminated against career colleges by applying only to them and not traditional higher education options, and taking educational opportunities away from veterans, minorities, and working parents.
• Finally, we are deeply encouraged that the Chairwoman acknowledged that traditional higher education institutions are in decline. Over the past decade or two, private, elitist colleges have turned education into a lucrative business – generating major profits all at the expense of good learning (and economic) opportunities.

We support this bill because any means to lower the cost of elitist colleges while restoring an even playing field is a valiant effort. We hope Republicans will join in

Read our op-ed on the Gainful Employment Rule in the Washington Examiner here.

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NEW: U.S. Colleges Grapple with Closure Threat; Mergers and Transformations Emerge As Survival Strategies via the University Herald: “Financial woes, exacerbated by declining birth rates and shifting student preferences, are pushing numerous colleges to the brink. In the first ten months of 2023 alone, 30 colleges, including both nonprofit and for-profit institutions, closed their only or final campuses.”

ANOTHER GOOD READ: Big Education Needs Big Oversight via Legal Insurrection: “The Wizard of Oz was exposed as a fraud when the curtain was pulled back. The curtain has now been pulled back on Big Education exposing fraud and abuse. The American people are ready to have a critical review of academia and a new level of regulations of Big Education in America.”

FOXX SIGHTING ON PELL GRANTS: “America has always been a skills-based economy, so it’s critical that we retool the Pell Grant to match the education needs of both students and employers. The Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act Achieves this goal by elevating skills-based programs, investing in upskilling, and promoting an education model tailored to workforce needs.” Read the full press release here.