Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Congress to Consider Ending a Student-Aid Restriction on Distance Programs By DAN CARNEVALE Washington Language that a member of Congress has added to a comprehensive financial-aid bill would ease a restriction under which colleges that enroll more than half of their students through distance education cannot offer federal student aid. The legislative language would allow institutions that currently offer financial aid to continue to do so no matter how many distance-education students they enroll. To qualify, however, the institutions would have to have had a loan-default rate of less than 10 percent for the previous three years. Under the existing rule, a college that enrolls more than 50 percent of its students at a distance can only offer federal financial aid if it is granted special permission by Congress and the Education Department to participate in the Distance Education Demonstration Program. The demonstration program allows online institutions such as Western Governors University and Capella University to offer financial aid until 2004, although Congress could decide to extend the program when it reauthorizes the Higher Education Act either this year or next. U.S. Rep. Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, sponsored a stand-alone bill in 2001 to ease the 50-percent rule. Although the bill passed the House of Representatives comfortably, it died in the Senate late last year (The Chronicle, October 11). Critics were worried that watering down the rule might make it possible for diploma mills to waste financial-aid dollars. Mr. Isakson decided this year to add the 50-percent language to a larger bill, HR 12, that aims to clean up red tape in financial-aid regulations. Proponents say the bill, known as Fed Up, includes provisions that would help college students avoid defaulting on their student loans, make it easier for Hispanic-serving institutions to receive federal aid, and make it clear that federal scholarship aid can go to low-income and minority students for law school. Democrats killed a similar Fed Up bill in the House of Representatives last year after Republicans tried to schedule it for a vote during which no amendments would be permitted (The Chronicle, July 26). Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon, a California Republican, has filed the bill again this year. Republicans have made its passage a priority this session. Mr. Isakson said in a statement that the Fed Up legislation would provide the best vehicle to loosen the 50-percent rule. "I believe it has the most promise for moving forward quickly and being signed by the president during this session of Congress," he said. The bill Mr. Isakson submitted in 2001 would also have changed a companion regulation known as the 12-hour rule. That rule prevented institutions that do not use a standard semester, trimester, or quarter format from providing federal financial aid unless they offered at least 12 hours of course work per week. But unlike the 50-percent rule, which is written into law, the 12-hour rule was an Education Department regulation. The department rescinded it late last year (The Chronicle, November 15). Background articles from The Chronicle: 12-Hour Rule, Viewed as Limiting Distance Education, Expires (11/15/2002) Congress Unlikely to Ease Limits on Aid for Distance Programs (10/11/2002) A Hard-Fought Win for Distance Education May Lead to Few Real Changes (9/6/2002) Lobbyists Blamed for Bill's Defeat (8/2/2002) Partisan Bickering Kills Student-Aid Bill in U.S. House (7/26/2002) House Votes to Ease Regulations on Distance Education (10/26/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Congressional investigators' sting fools Education Department into certifying fictitious college Conflict of interest is widespread in biomedical research, study finds Paper on memory research forgot to give credit, critics complain Baylor U. wins appeal of jury award to professor who was fired Congress to consider ending a student-aid restriction on distance programs