Universities Blast House Ed Bill

Harvard officials said yesterday that the Higher Education Act renewed by the House of Representatives on Thursday contained provisions that give the federal government excessive influence over colleges.

But supporters of the act said that it will rein in tuition hikes and make college more affordable.

The legislation would increase the maximum individual Pell Grant by $200 to $6,000. It also looks to expand federal oversight of colleges by monitoring tuition hikes.

Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said in a statement that “consistent increases in college costs have made it clear that colleges and universities must remain accountable to consumers of higher education.”

But higher education advocates say the legislation is too intrusive, and that it fails to provide enough money for financial aid.

“We’re worried that the focus has moved from helping students to controlling colleges,” said Tony M. Pals, a spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, of which Harvard is a member.

Schools that increased tuition above a certain rate over three years could be included on a federal “black list” accessible to the public, he said. Tuition hikes over twice the rate of inflation would be targeted, according to Pals.

Harvard’s senior director of federal and state relations, Kevin Casey, said that federal oversight of college tuitions is “something that we think is unfounded and is arbitrary and does not take into account the individual institution’s commitment to financial aid.”

The College’s tuition and fees will increase by 4.75 percent next year. But Harvard also recently expanded its financial aid program so that families making under $60,000 a year won’t face any required contribution. That financial aid expansion would not be taken into consideration under the legislation, although the federal list would ostensibly reflect a school’s affordability, Casey said.

Moreover, the legislation’s $200 increase in Pell Grants isn’t sufficient, some higher education advocates say.

“We would prefer a bill that focused on providing greater assistance to low-income students,” said Barry Toiv ’77-’78, a spokesman for the Association of American Universities. “While this bill helps a little bit in that regard, it really misses an opportunity to do that.”

Especially in the wake of a February bill that cut $12 billion from student loan funding, Casey said, the lack of emphasis on student financial aid was “regrettable.”

Harvard lobbyists had joined higher education advocates from around the nation in Washington last week to attempt to influence the version of the legislation passed by the House.

“Every major university in the country that has any presence in Washington was working on this issue,” Casey said.

The final legislation left out some controversial measures, such as proposed federal regulation of transfer credits and college accreditation, according to Casey.

An earlier version of the reauthorization would have given states the power to accredit universities, but this provision was dropped, Pals said.

State control over which colleges can award diplomas or receive federal financial aid for their students would have interfered with academic freedom, he said.

Another measure modified in the final legislation would have forced colleges to accept students’ transfer credits, even if the courses taken did not reach colleges’ academic standards, Pals added.

Last reauthorized in 1998, the Higher Education Act may be debated in the Senate as early as this month, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

—Staff writer Lois E. Beckett can be reached at lbeckett@fas.harvard.edu.