Home  Special Initiatives  HEA 101: A President's Quick Guide to the New Law  Additional Issues 

Overview

Title VII of the Higher Education Act includes several small, but valuable programs in graduate education— the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN), and the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity. The HEOA adds a new graduate program to this group, the Patsy T. Mink Fellowship program, to educate minorities and women for the professorate. Collectively, these programs provide important federal support for fields of study that do not receive adequate attention or funding from other federal agencies, and for groups that need special support.

In addition to improving the Title VII programs, federal student loan limits for graduate and professional students were significantly increased in the 2006 budget reconciliation act, when the PLUS parent lending program was opened up to all graduate students through the creation of Grad PLUS.

Additional Resources

1.Statutory Language.

2. Summary prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the graduate provisions in HEOA, Title XII.

Title VII: Graduate and Postsecondary Improvement Programs - Revises and reauthorizes title VII Graduate and Post-Secondary Improvement programs.

(Sec. 702) Allows IHEs to grant Jacob K. Javits fellowship recipients an interruption of study in exceptional circumstances, such as active duty military service or a personal or family illness.

Directs the Secretary, appointing members of the Jacob K. Javits Fellows Program Fellowship Board, to include representatives of various U.S. geographic regions and representatives from IHEs eligible for grants under title III or V of the HEA.

Reauthorizes appropriations for the program for FY2009-FY2014.

(Sec. 703) Specifies the entities with which the Secretary must consult, and additional considerations to take into account, in determining areas of national need under the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program.

Reauthorizes appropriations for the program for FY2009-FY2014.

(Sec. 704) Revises the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity program to involve secondary school students in the program and provide Thurgood Marshall Fellowships to law school students who participate in certain summer institutes.

Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2014 for the program.

(Sec. 705) Expresses the sense of Congress that IHEs eligible for funds under part A (Graduate Education Programs) of title VII should be encouraged to consider the feasibility of an inter-institution monitoring organization to address under-representation by race, ethnicity, and gender in postsecondary faculty and administration.

(Sec. 706) Directs the Secretary to award grants to certain historically Black colleges and universities and to certain Predominantly Black Institutions for masters degree programs in mathematics, engineering, the physical or natural sciences, computer science, information technology, nursing, allied health, or other scientific disciplines in which African Americans are underrepresented. Requires a grantee to match federal funds to the extent they exceed $1 million. Authorizes appropriations for such grant programs for FY2009-FY2014.

(Sec. 707) Adds to authorized activities under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education program (FIPSE): (1) the establishment and continuation of joint efforts based on the technology of communications; (2) the reform of remedial education, including English language instruction; (3) programs increasing the secondary school graduation rates of LEP students and the number of eligible late-entering LEP students who pursue postsecondary education; (4) the creation of IHE consortia to establish interdisciplinary programs on poverty; (5) demonstration projects to provide comprehensive support services to ensure that homeless students, or students who were in foster care or were a ward of the court at any time before the age of 13, enroll and succeed in postsecondary education; (6) promoting cultural diversity in the entertainment media industry.

Establishes new FIPSE programs to create: (1) a center, at an IHE, to study and develop best practices to support single-parent students; and (2) a scholarship program for the family members of veterans and military personnel.

Authorizes the Secretary to give FIPSE priority to IHEs that meet or exceed a specified energy efficiency standard for new construction or renovations.

Adds to the areas of national need eligible for special project funding under the FIPSE program: (1) improvements in academic instruction and student learning; (2) foreign language studies; and (3) the incorporation of medical quality and safety into medical and nursing courses.

Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2014 for the FIPSE program.

(Sec. 708) Eliminates the Urban Community Service program (part C of title VII of HEA).

(Sec. 709) Replaces the current part D (Demonstration Projects to Ensure Students with Disabilities Receive a Quality Higher Education) of title VII with additional programs to provide disabled students with a quality higher education.

Creates a new program of part D demonstration projects that expands the activities authorized under the current program to include: (1) the development of innovative teaching methods and strategies to ensure the successful transition of disabled students from secondary to postsecondary education; (2) making distance education accessible to disabled students; (3) teacher training and support in providing disabled students with career options; and (4) curriculum development to make postsecondary education more accessible to disabled students.

Establishes a new competitive matching grant program for IHEs to create or expand high-quality, inclusive model comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities focusing on academic enrichment, socialization, independent living, and integrated work experiences and career skills.

Establishes an advisory commission on accessible instructional materials in postsecondary education for students with disabilities to make recommendations for improving the timely delivery and quality of accessible instructional materials for postsecondary students, faculty, and staff with print disabilities.

Creates new model demonstration programs requiring the Secretary to award competitive grants or contracts to at least one partnership between an IHE and private entity to develop systems to improve the timely delivery and quality of postsecondary instructional materials in specialized formats to students with print disabilities. Allows the Secretary to expand the program to additional grantees if the model programs prove to be effective.

Directs the Secretary to provide for the establishment and support of a National Center for Information and Technical Support for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities to improve the postsecondary recruitment, transition, retention, and completion rates of such students.

Requires such center to: (1) provide information and technical assistance to disabled students, their families, and IHEs; (2) maintain a web-based data bank of IHE disability support services information; (3) work with disability support experts to evaluate, improve, and disseminate information related to the delivery of high quality disability support services at IHEs; and (4) report biennially regarding the postsecondary success of disabled students.

Directs the Secretary to enter into a cooperative agreement with an entity that has relevant experience for the establishment of a coordinating center for IHEs that offer inclusive model comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities to provide technical assistance, evaluations, and recommendations relating to standards for such programs. Requires the center to convene a working group to make recommendations to the Secretary, Congress and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity on accreditation standards for such programs.

Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2014 for the part D programs.

(Sec. 710) Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2009-2014 for the College Access Challenge Grant program.