Efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act appear to have stalled in the House, as it became clear that the votes aren't there to approve the massive bill that would make significant changes to student aid and accreditation programs. The House Education and Workforce Committee's Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform  (PROSPER) Act has been widely panned by higher education groups and universities across the country. Of primary concern, the current House Education and Workforce Committee bill:

• Lacks an increase to the maximum Pell Grant award and no return to the annual inflation-based increases to the maximum award;
• Eliminates the in-school interest subsidy on undergraduate student loans;
• Eliminates the Federal Work Study program for graduate students;
• Dilutes the Pell Grant Program by allowing eligibility for for-profit institution programs;
• Eliminates the Federal PLUS loans for graduate students;
• Eliminates the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and other occupation-based forgiveness programs; and
• Eliminates the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants.

The bill does include some positive steps, such as a risk-based approach to accreditation that would streamline the process and allow institutions to bypass unnecessary documentation of compliance with guidelines that don’t speak to academic quality or student outcomes. The bill would also eliminate origination fees on federal student loans.

Advocacy by the higher education community is credited with getting House members to take a more critical look at the bill.

Senators working on their own version of the Higher Education Act reauthorization have already indicated that a final bill is unlikely to emerge this year.