Senate Passes Biggest Improvements to
Higher Education Since 1998

"Today we achieved a major victory in the fight to help more students afford and attend college. The Higher Education Access Act will raise the number of Pell Grants, keep loan payments reasonable for graduates, assist military service members, and help homeless and foster students attend college."

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Dear Friend –

I’m thrilled to report that in the past few days, we’ve passed two major bills to help more students attend college and afford a college education. 

These bills mark the biggest changes to the Higher Education Act in 9 years.

On Friday, we passed a bill that raises Pell Grants, keeps loan payments reasonable for graduates, and helps students who can’t afford to pursue public service careers.  Read more about the Higher Ed Access bill.

Then on Tuesday, we passed a major update to the Higher Education Act.  This reauthorization bill will clean up the student loan system, simplify financial aid applications, and address rising college costs. It also strengthens and improves GEAR UP and TRIO programs and makes other investments.  Read more about the Higher Ed Reauthorization.

Now these bills are not law yet.  The Access bill needs to be reconciled with the House version, and the House of Representatives still needs to pass its own reauthorization bill.  But I’m very pleased by the swift progress we’ve made in the Senate and thought you’d want to be among the first to know.

Sincerely,

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Senate Passes Higher Education Bill to Improve College Access

Just days after raising Pell Grants, Murray helps pass bill that addresses rising college costs, simplifies financial aid applications, and reforms the student loan system

On Tuesday (7/24/07), U.S. Senator Patty Murray took another step to help more students attend college by voting for the Higher Education Reauthorization Act (S.1642), which passed the Senate 95-0.

The bill will help students and their families get better information on the costs of college, simplify the financial aid application, and reform the student loan system so it puts the interests of students first.  Murray helped draft the bill as a member of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. 

"Today, we took another step to help open the doors of college to more students across the country.  This bill will change lives, help young people reach their full potential, and help our country build a stronger economic future," Murray said.  "Without the support in this bill, many young people would never see the inside of a college classroom."

Senator Murray also worked to include a provision that allows new teacher preparation partnership grants to train literacy and math coaches at teacher preparation colleges and universities.  This will create a pipeline of specially-trained coaches in two critically needed areas.  Senator Murray's PASS Act (S. 6.11) calls for hiring literacy and math coaches to help students master these skills so they can graduate prepared for college and careers.

The Higher Education Reauthorization that passed also:

• Reauthorizes and improves GEAR UP and TRIO programs that help students from disadvantaged backgrounds prepare for and attend college
• Provides additional grant funds to Upward Bound programs for low-income students
• Creates a new program to help colleges that serve Native American students
• Provides scholarships for spouses of military service members
• Reauthorizes programs to help non-traditional students attend college

Next Step: Now that the bill has passed the full Senate, the House of Representatives must pass a companion bill.

This action comes just days after another victory for students. Last Friday (7/20/07), the Senate passed another higher education reform bill (S.1762) . That bill, the Higher Education Access Act of 2007, raised the maximum Pell Grant amount, protected graduates from spending more than 15% of their income on loan payments each month, and offered loan forgiveness for students who pursue public service jobs.

Senator Murray's full statement follows:

"Mr. President, I am pleased to vote for the Higher Education Reauthorization Act because it will open the doors of college to more students across the country.  I want to commend Senator Kennedy for his leadership on this bill.  I've been honored to work with him and the other members of the Committee to produce this comprehensive solution.  

"In response to the recent student loan scandals, this bill reforms the student loan process so that it puts the interests of students first and makes the system more transparent.  To help address rising college costs, this bill takes a number of steps to increase user-friendly information available to students and parents about college costs.  I'm also pleased that this bill will make it easier for students to apply for financial aid by replacing the current 10-page application with a new 2-page version.  This bill offers more help for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Specifically, it strengthens TRIO programs to make students more prepared for higher education.  It also expands and improves GEAR UP programs, which are a critical tool to help guide and prepare disadvantaged students for high school graduation and college enrollment.

"I am especially pleased that the bill includes my proposal to train math and literacy coaches in colleges of education.  As I've been working to improve our schools, I've recognized that we need to provide additional support to students in math and reading. By addressing those areas, we can improve the graduation rate and help students graduate prepared for college and careers.  When I introduced the PASS Act (S.611) earlier this year, I included reading and math coaches as a key way to improve the graduation rate.  I'm pleased that this Higher Education Reauthorization includes a grants program that will help train those coaches, so we have a ready pipeline of qualified coaches to address these critical areas."

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Senate Passes Higher Education Reform Bill that Makes College More Affordable and Reduces Student Debt Payments

Last Friday (7/20/07), U.S. Senator Patty Murray released the following statement on Senate passage of the Higher Education Access Act of 2007.  The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 78-18.

Senator Murray:

"Today we achieved a major victory in the fight to help more students afford and attend college. The Higher Education Access Act will raise the number of Pell Grants, keep loan payments reasonable for graduates, assist military service members, and help homeless and foster students attend college.

"In recent years, the deck has become increasingly stacked against students who want to get a college education in Washington state and across the country. College has become more expensive while the Pell grant has remained stagnant, and on top of that, some large lenders have taken advantage of students. This means that those students who are able to attend college are often graduating saddled with debt - unable to buy a car or a house. Today we have passed legislation that works to end this crippling trend.

"The legislation passed today raises the maximum Pell Grant by 25 percent over four years to $5,400 per student. This will make nearly $40 million in need-based grants available for Washington state students next year alone.

"The bill also ensures that college graduates are not burdened with high loan payments by guaranteeing that borrowers will not have to pay more than 15 percent of their monthly income in student loan payments.  This will bring immediate relief to students who are burdened with excessive loans.

"If we want our economy to grow, our people to succeed, and our country to be strong, we have to help more students get a college education. Through increased federal aid and sensible limits on debt payments, this bill does just that."

Watch Murray's Remarks -