The PROSPER Act will now be advanced to the full House after a final vote of 23-17. The proposal is finalized by the House Republicans to overhaul the Higher Education Act – the federal law through which student’s financial aid system works.
If the bill is passed, it would eliminate various regulations and elevate post-secondary programs offering professional certificates and job training. The Democrats have also been eager to overhaul the outdated Higher Education Act.
The bill simplifies the federal aid application in the student financial aid system and the federal aid offering by only one loan, one grant and one work-study program.
This would also eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and would also eliminate a grant that funds undergrad and graduate students who promise to tach high-need subjects in high-needs schools.
The bill would also roll back major regulations made in the Obama era like the standardization in institutes of the Higher Education of the value of a credit hour.
The bill includes many new provisions that deal with topics such as sexual assault and freedom f speech. However, those would not require schools to change any of their current policies.
The proposal is considered no slam dunk on the House floor as many GOP members will review many of its provisions that affect them like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Many organizations have voiced their opposition against the bill, and US Senate members are trying a different tack to reauthorize the law.