Mixed Perspectives on the Higher Education Act Reauthorization

There are mixed reports on the likelihood of a Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization happening in 2020.

Earlier this week, Inside Higher Education reported that Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chair of the Senate Health Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, said in remarks to a meeting of community college trustees that he and ranking member Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) were working on an HEA reauthorization, with a hope that the HELP committee would pass the bill by the end of this month.

Also earlier this week, the Community College Daily reported that Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the HELP committee, said at a community college roundtable about the HEA that the reauthorization is "the top priority of the HELP Committee right now."

Yet today, Inside Higher Education reports that Senator Murray "threw some cold water" on talk of an imminent HEA reauthorization, saying "I think that's going to be difficult to do. But we are working on trying to get an agreement."