Higher Education Act

Collin Binkley AP Education Writer

After months of negotiation, Congress gave final approval Tuesday for a bill promising to restore more than $250 million a year to the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, along with other institutions that teach large shares of minority students.

Senate Education Chair blocks bipartisan bill to extend HBCU funding

Each year as families beam with pride at seeing a son, daughter or another relative graduate from college, that achievement is nearly always the result of a family’s commitment to higher education.  And when these institutions are among the more than 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), that pride is magnified by the history of how our forefathers overcame what once seemed to be insurmountable challenges.

Tri-Caucus Releases Higher Education Act Reauthorization Priorities

The Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus –Congressional Black (CBC) Caucus Chair Karen Bass (CA-37), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chair Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Judy Chu (CA-27) – released their Tri-Caucus Higher Education Priorities for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Senators Doug Jones and Kamala Harris Secure Robust Funding Increase for HBCUs

U.S. Senators Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) today announced that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will receive a 14-percent increase in federal funding in the Senate’s omnibus spending bill, from $244.7 million in FY17 to $279.6 million in FY18. The funding increase follows a request made by Senators Jones and Harris last month in a letter to the leadership of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. Their letter was supported by 12 of their Senate colleagues and is copied below.

Bass introduces bipartisan legislation to curb recidivism, increase opportunities for ex-offenders

In light of President Obama’s work to stem over-incarceration, Congressmember Karen Bass (D-Calf.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, recently introduced bipartisan legislation that would bolster the Administration’s efforts to eliminate barriers to education for ex-offenders. H.R. 4004, the “Stopping Unfair Collateral Consequences from Ending Student Success Act” or the SUCCESS Act, would repeal the law that makes it all but impossible for people with a drug conviction, no matter how petty, to apply for federal financial aid for education. A section of the Higher Education Act suspends college aid for a person who is convicted of a drug