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President Al Goldfarb (left) and COEHS Dean Bonnie Smith (right) converse with Congressman Phil Hare about higher education.

Hare addresses Higher Education Act

By: Ed Komenda

Posted: 9/5/08

Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL), an active member of the House Education and Labor Committee, made an appearance at Western Illinois University Thursday to discuss additions and provisions made to the recently reauthorized Higher Education Act.

According to a Sept. 3 press release, Hare authored four key provisions in the Higher Education Act for rural students and families on July 31. In his address to Western faculty and students in the University Union Prairie Lounge, Hare focused mainly on the legislation in the bill he helped pass.

"We see a lot of young people leaving rural areas with a high debt who end up 'hunting in the dark' to try and pay their loans off," Hare said. "So, what we were able to do was get some amendments in the Higher Education Act that we think will go a long way to recruit and retain students looking for a rural education."

According to Hare, the Higher Education Act helped increase the government-mandated Pell Grant from $5,800 to $8,000.

"It doesn't seem like an awful lot, but when you're on a tight budget, and with the economy not doing as well as we hoped it would be doing, that's an awful lot of money," Hare said.

Hare also touched on "loan forgiveness" for students who commit themselves to working in an area where their desired profession is scarce.

"This is a $10,000 loan forgiveness program for individuals serving in high-needs areas," Hare said. "These qualified individuals are eligible for up to $2,000 each year in loan forgiveness for five years."

Eligible professions include early childhood educators, librarians, child-welfare workers, school counselors, archeologists, nutrition specialists, dentists and many more, according to Hare.

Hare's new legislation also helped eliminate much of the hassle students experience while filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA.

"We've eliminated the paperwork to about 50 percent of what it presently is," Hare said. "This is supposed to be implanted over the next five years; we talked with the secretary of education, and she has indicated that they think they can get things moving within two years."

Although there was much eliminating involved with FAFSA forms, Hare added that an important addition was made focusing on dislocated workers.

"We've lost a lot of employees in a lot of different places," Hare said. "The FAFSA form will now ask if you're a dislocated worker, or if your spouse is a dislocated worker, and the data helps determine how much you're allowed to borrow."

He added that the new FAFSA helps identify and give those who have lost their jobs the opportunity to apply for a loan in an economy that would normally not allow them to.

According to Hare, the new legislation allows the Federal Pell Grant to be more accessible to those who need aid.

"This makes college a lot more affordable for low-income and non-traditional students by allowing Pell Grants to be received year-round," Hare said. "Again, I think this is where we are reaching out; we want more people to go to colleges and universities.

"What I think we want to try and do is invest in younger people and 'invest in the Midwest,' as I call it," Hare said. "And I was pleased that every one of these, by the way, passed within the committee unanimously, and to have four of them in a bill is very fortunate."