By Jonathan Turner

Making college more affordable and financial aid easier to apply for are among the goals of a recently signed federal Higher Education Act.

U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, lauded the law's new provisions in a stop Thursday morning at Augustana College.

“It's a complicated bill, but it's a good bill,” he said in a press conference with Augie president Steven Bahls. “I'm glad to see it's been signed.”

“Students and families throughout my district understand that college costs are too high,” Rep. Hare said. “By putting a degree within their reach, this legislation will allow more working families to achieve the American dream.”

The large, five-year reauthorization of the Higher Education Act included four provisions authored by Rep. Hare to improve the quality of education in rural areas, which comprise much of his 23-county Congressional district.

“For too long, rural schools in my district have been underserved,” Rep. Hare said. “As a result, students there have not had the same opportunities as their urban and suburban counterparts. I was proud to author language that will help recruit and retain high-quality teachers and administrators to work and live in these communities.”

One-third of K-12 schools are in rural areas across the country, and they have a very hard time recruiting teachers, he said.

Rep. Hare's provisions in the law are designed to:

*Make it easier for rural schools to recruit highly qualified teachers.

*Prepare teachers to be principals, superintendents and other administrators in rural communities.

*Inform dislocated workers, many of whom have been laid off in rural areas, of their eligibility to qualify for financial aid and get retrained.

*Create economic growth and development in rural America.

“Economic growth is dependent on quality education,” Mr. Bahls said. He praised the new bill for taking “a lot of the mystery out of the financial aid process and restoring integrity to the student loan system.”

He met with Rep. Hare about a year ago to express concerns with an earlier draft of the legislation, which had emphasized more federal “micromanaging of higher education,” Mr. Bahls said.

The final bill removed that element and instead focused on making the federal government a “partner” with colleges and universities to improve the quality and affordability of higher education, Mr. Bahls said.

Among other benefits of the law are:

*Make Pell Grants available year-round and increase the amount available to $8,000.

*Reduce the interest rates on federal student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over five years.

*Offer $10,000 in loan forgiveness over five years to public defenders, prosecutors, firefighters, military service members, first responders, law enforcement officers, educators, nurses and others serving the public interest.

*Create a new scholarship program for active duty military personnel, veterans and family members (including children and spouses)

*Ensure fairness in student aid and housing aid for veterans to make it easier for them to go to college while also fulfilling their military service duties.

*Hold colleges and universities accountable for tuition hikes by requiring them to report reasons for tuition increases.

*Provide students with fair and full information about borrowing options when taking out and repaying student loans, including the terms and conditions of both federal and private student loans; and promotes financial literacy and education for students and parents.

*Simplify the federal student aid application process.

*Streamline the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process, and creates an easy-to-navigate two-page FAFSA-EZ form for low-income families.

*Establish a national center to provide support services and best practices for colleges, students with disabilities, and their families.

*Expand eligibility for Pell Grant scholarships and other need-based aid for students with intellectual disabilities.

*Boost campus safety and disaster readiness plans, including a disaster relief loan program to help schools recover and rebuild in the event of a disaster.

*Encourage colleges to adopt sustainable and energy-efficient practices, including a grant program to help colleges and universities design and implement sustainable practices.

Rep. Hare added that the committee and Congressional effort to pass the bill was bipartisan. Whoever the new president is in January, he hopes that the act can be further improved.