Chapter 2: The Federal Education Policy Process

On December 17, 2018, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced he would not seek reelection in 2020. As chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and a long-time education reformer, his announcement led to speculation that a comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) might occur.

Reauthorization of the HEA had not taken place since 2008, and with more and more Americans enrolling in postsecondary education, and more of them taking on significant debt loads, the legislation was due for updating. Of considerable interest was the nexus between student debt and accountability of institutions of higher education. Indeed, since becoming eligible to receive federal student aid, the for-profit sector had swelled. Questionable lending practices, sudden closures, and poor student outcomes led to calls for increased oversight of the sector. To encourage reform of the industry, the Obama Department of Education implemented “gainful employment” regulations to measure student outcomes and hold institutions accountable to them (“Program Integrity,” 2014). Regulations that were revoked by the Trump Department of Education (“Program Integrity,” 2019). This regulatory back-and-forth, and others like it, suggested the need for lawmakers to determine the path forward—something which could occur with HEA reauthorization.