Higher Education Action Alert

(In case you need a break from the LAPD stuff. . . )

After almost 10 YEARS of waiting, the Higher Education Act is finally on the move!

The Higher Education Act was originally introduced in 1965 to help "strengthen educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education." It is the single most comprehensive bill dealing with higher education access on the federal level. HEA is supposed to be renewed every 5-7 years, but hasn't been reauthorized since 1998!

On Friday, the House Education & Labor Committee introduced the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 (Higher Education Act Reauthorization). The committee will make changes to the bill this week and the full House will vote on the bill soon.

Today, you have the chance to make sure college is affordable and accessible for generations to come.

Passage of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 will:

* Simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application by allowing the Department of Education to use IRS information already available

* Expand higher education access for low income and underrepresented students by making the Pell Grant available year round, strengthening early intervention & outreach programs such as GEAR UP & TRIO, and expanding funding for graduate students at historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and other minority serving schools.

* Restore the integrity and accountability of student loan programs by requiring schools to adopt codes of conduct, providing student borrowers with full information about their federal and private loan options, and protects students from aggressive marketing practices by lenders

Congress needs to hear from students and their families about the need to make higher education more affordable and accessible!

Flood your Representatives' phone lines WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY and urge them to make higher education a right!

Click here for a sample call-in script!

For more information on the Higher Education Act, visit www.usstudents.org or email us at ussa@usstudents.org.