Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON –Just a year after passing the largest increase in student aid in more than 50 years, U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today said he is pleased the Senate has adopted another bill he helped write to make college more affordable and accessible to New Mexicans.

As a senior member of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Bingaman was in a key position to influence this legislation. 

"This new law will help families address the rising costs of college.  It will also make it much easier for New Mexico students to navigate the financial aid process, and qualify for financial assistance," Bingaman said.  "This is a great bill for New Mexico students."

The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, which passed today and can now be sent to the president, takes a significant step forward in making sure that college is both affordable for and accessible to all students and their families in the following ways:

• It increases the authorized maximum Pell Grant award to $6,000 for next year and up to $8,000 by 2014-2015 and makes Pell grants year round so students can take courses in the summer;

·         It requires greater transparency in the costs of attending college, helps reduce the costs of college textbooks, simplifies the financial aid process and holds colleges accountable for their rising costs;

·         It reforms the student loan system;

·         It makes it easier for military veterans and their families to pursue a college education when they return home;

·         It establishes grants to support minority youth engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics;

• It provides loan forgiveness, scholarships, and fellowships; and removes barriers for students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency to qualify for financial aid. 

Also at Bingaman's urging, the bill increases funding levels for Hispanic Serving Institutions – colleges and universities that serve a high percentage of Hispanic students – to $175 million.  This funding is used to support two- and four-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs); most of New Mexico's colleges are HSIs. 

But at Bingaman's insistence, the bill also creates a long-overdue program for graduate students enrolled at HSIs and funds it at $69 million over six years.  Bingaman's graduate program will provide support for the following activities:

• fellowships and support services for graduate students,
• facilities improvement,
• faculty development,
• technology and distance education, and
• collaborative arrangements with other institutions.

"Because many jobs of the future will require graduate-level education, I am very pleased that we were able to provide $69 million over the next six years to support this critical program," Bingaman said. 

Many of the graduate programs in New Mexico would be eligible for this funding.

In addition, the bill authorizes $25 million for Bingaman's Native American Serving Institution program, an initiative that provides funding to nontribal colleges with a student population that is at least 10 percent Native American.  Grants of at least $200,000 would support curriculum development and academic instruction, faculty development, the purchase of books and other educational materials, and academic tutoring and counseling.  Currently, eligible schools in New Mexico include San Juan College, University of New Mexico-Gallup, and New Mexico State University-Grants.

Bingaman also included a provision that will authorize funding for Navajo Technical College (NTC) to help defray the costs of operating the college.  This authorization will significantly increase NTC's ability to provide high-quality career and technical training to ensure Native American students graduate with the skills necessary to compete in the 21^st century economy. 

The Higher Education Opportunity Act also helps students prepare for and succeed in college by strengthening the TRIO and GEAR UP programs.  At Bingaman's urging, the bill requires GEAR UP partnerships to systemically change the ways schools prepare students for college.  It requires states and school districts to encourage more students to enroll in rigorous high school coursework and emphasizes activities that will support the development of college prep curricula, including Advanced Placement.  It also strengthens the TRIO programs by establishing outcome criteria for measuring the quality and effectiveness of the programs, and establishes a fair appeal process for TRIO programs whose applications are improperly evaluated and scored.

More information on GEAR UP and TRIO can be found at the following links:

http://www.ed.gov/programs/gearup/index.html; http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html

Finally, Bingaman also wrote into the bill measures that will help colleges prepare students to be more effective teachers.  Under Bingaman's proposals, colleges of education must prepare all teachers to identify and tailor instruction to meet the needs of students with disabilities and students who don't speak English as their primary language.  His proposal also requires that teachers are prepared to do a better job of working and communicating with parents.  The bill also reauthorizes Bingaman's program to prepare teachers to use technology to improve student learning, assessment, and learning management.

"We are facing a shortage of high-quality, well-prepared teachers, and particularly so in our schools that serve the lowest income students.  This bill places greater emphasis on recruiting and preparing teachers to teach in high need schools, including high-poverty or rural schools," Bingaman said.