Are You Fed Up With Burdensome Higher Education Regulations?

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citing a desire to continue the positive efforts to simplify burdensome regulations made in the Higher Education Act reauthorization of 1998, Rep. Howard P. Buck McKeon (R-CA) announced a new effort to streamline bureaucracy in higher education policy in a speech to the American Council of Education, an organization representing postsecondary associations.

During the last reauthorization, we focused on the goals of making higher education affordable, simplifying the student aid system, and stressing academic quality, said McKeon, chairman of the 21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee. However, times have changed since 1998. We have a new administration and a new education secretary, Rod Paige, who is willing to take a new look at how the department administers higher education programs.

There is tremendous potential today for positive change, and we need to take full advantage of this opportunity.

McKeon announced a new project to identify needless or overly burdensome regulations called Upping the Effectiveness of Our Federal Student Aid Programs, or FED. UP for short. In the near future, McKeon, along with subcommittee ranking member Patsy Mink (D-HI), will be asking for recommendations for streamlining regulations from the college and student financial aid community.

We will be sending a form where you can show us the specific regulation you want changed; the proposed change; and reason for the change McKeon said. The subcommittee will then evaluate the responses and likely hold hearings on the proposed changes.

McKeon said the House Education and the Workforce Committee would soon unveil a FED. UP page on the committee website where interested parties can complete the form. An e-mail address also will be created to send the completed forms back to the committee. The website and e-mail will be operational in the near future.

Postsecondary education is vital to the strength of the nation, McKeon added. This effort will allow us to make the job of educating college students much easier. I look forward to working with Education Secretary Paige and Congresswoman Mink.