The U.S. Senate passed legislation (S. 2353/H.R. 3629) sponsored by U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) to end a two-year "wait out" period for grant eligibility that unfairly penalizes Tribal Colleges and Universities and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, which are among this country's most underfunded institutions of higher education. The Senate passed the legislation by unanimous consent; the House of Representatives previously approved the bill. President Clinton is expected to sign the measure into law.
Title III of the Higher Education Act provides grants to a specific set of colleges and universities, including the University of Hawaii, that serve disproportionate numbers of minority, low-income, and first generation college students. These institutions have considerable impact on improving the quality and quantity of educational and career opportunities for their students, who face unique socio-economic barriers. Title III was created to help improve and expand the academic capacity of institutions specifically established and committed to serving these students. In FY 1999, Hawaii received $1.6 million in grants, funding for FY 2000 is expected to exceed that amount.
"I am gratified that the Congress acted quickly to remove this punitive restriction," Akaka commented. "Any delay or barrier to continued assistance can impair the higher education aspirations of Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students. Because the applicant pool is already so limited in size, without this fix the two-year wait out provision will likely result in no institutions being eligible to apply for future funds under this program. Currently, there are six institutions in the states of Washington, Montana, California, North Dakota, and South Dakota that are in the first year of their two-year wait out period."
In 1998, Part A of Title III, the Strengthening Developing Institutions Program, was amended by the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 to introduce a special program for Tribal Colleges and Universities and for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions. Many of these institutions apply for Institutional Aid under Title III of the Higher Education Act.
The 1998 law also instituted a change that requires grantees to "wait out" for at least two years at the end of their grant before applying for a new grant. This wait out period was originally created to ensure that Title III funding would reach the maximum number of students and institutions. Under the law, the wait out only affects Sections 316 and 317, which cover Tribal Colleges and Universities and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions. The Akaka bill would make a technical change exempting Sections 316 and 317 from the two-year wait out requirement. In Hawaii, this involves the major college campuses and community colleges in the University of Hawaii system.
