Washington, D.C. -  U.S. Rep. Timothy V. Johnson expressed optimism over the opportunities that stand to be created by today’s passage of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 (H.R. 4137).

   “This legislation both extends and expands higher education spending policies through 2013 with the goal of making college more affordable and accessible,” Rep. Johnson said. “This will benefit thousands of young people within my district, one of the most higher-education intensive congressional districts in the country. I am eager to see it signed into law and put into practice.”

     Major provisions of the legislation include:

• Creation of a higher education price increase watch list that reports the full price of tuition, fees, room and board along with a comparison chart showing the percentage change in state appropriations per student. The bill further prohibits states from reducing total higher education spending for any academic year beginning on or after July 1, 2008, to an amount that is less than the average amount allocated by a state over the five most recent academic years.
  
  
• Establishment of grant programs to encourage institutions and students to focus on science, technology, engineering, math and foreign language areas of study.
  
  
• Simplification of the FAFSA application to make the federal student aid application process more understandable for students and parents.
  
  
• Increases in the maximum Pell grant from $5,800 to $9,000 a year and allows the grants to be accessible year-round and to part-time students.
  
  
• Provision of rural development grants for rural universities to increase enrollment and graduate rates, and to provide career training. (This incorporates language from the College and University Rural Education Act of 2007, which Rep. Johnson cosponsored.)
  
  
• Reauthorizes Teach for American, which recruits and trains recent college graduates seeking to enter into the teaching profession.
  
  
• Requires universities to treat students returning from military service as continuously enrolled students, and allows a family’s nursing home expenses to be calculated when deciding how much loan aid a student is eligible for.

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