During work on the No Child Left Behind Act, he worked to guarantee that Nevada students got their fair share of education funding from the federal government. Ensign included a provision in the No Child Left Behind Act to ensure that a fast-growing state such as Nevada would receive the education funding it deserves. Because of his amendment, the federal government is now required to update the number of students in each state annually, rather than every five to six years as had been done in the past. The passage of Senator Ensign’s amendment has meant an additional $55 million for the state of Nevada in Title I funds alone, funds which assist the most disadvantaged students.
Learn More About No Child Left Behind:
Ten Things Parents Should Know
Myths and Facts
Title I and Disadvantaged Students
Understanding No Child Left Behind: TEACHER HANDBOOK
Understanding No Child Left Behind: PARENT HANDBOOK
The Higher Education Act
During his time as a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Ensign played a key role in the review of the Higher Education Act in 2005, although final legislation was not considered by the full Senate. The Senate recently reauthorized this important legislation which would increase access to institutions of higher education in August of 2008.
Although he is no longer a member of the Committee, Senator Ensign has remained particularly interested in ensuring that federal financial aid goes to those students who most need it. To that end, he worked to target new federal assistance, the Academic Competitiveness grants, to students eligible for the federal Pell grant. This new grant supplements federal Pell grants for students in college.
The Higher Education Act also contains new provisions that target financial assistance to those students majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). As a former chairman of the Senate High Tech Task Force, Senator Ensign is particularly concerned about the low number of U.S. students entering these majors. He hopes that increasing the assistance provided to these students will encourage more of our best and brightest students to enter these majors. To encourage these students to enter the STEM fields, additional financial assistance is given to students in their freshman year for taking a rigorous math and science curriculum in high school. Students with declared STEM majors in their junior and senior years will be eligible for the SMART Grant. The SMART Grant will provide additional assistance on top of the student’s Pell grant.