Heidi Alexander: “I appreciate the comments by the Senator from New Jersey. To be clear, the House bill for historically Black…”

“I appreciate the comments by the Senator from New Jersey. To be clear, the House bill for historically Black minority-serving institutions creates a new funding cliff. It is a short-term patch for 2 years that creates a cliff after 2 years. It is supported by a budget gimmick that can't possibly pass the Senate. What I have proposed is a permanent solution to get rid of the cliff--a permanent solution that those institutions and those students can depend on. The proposal is $255 million a year, fully paid for. Second, the U.S. Department of Education has written a letter to Congress and said that no one is going to lose their money at the end of the month. The law expires, but the money doesn't. There is enough money to continue the program for another year. It shouldn't take us another year to work this out. Third, it is urgent to deal with historically Black colleges. Let's look at the students, not the colleges. Who goes to historically Black colleges? Low-income students often go there. And every year, 20 million low-income Americans fill out this ridiculously complicated FAFSA application for student aid that has 108 questions. We agree on both sides of the aisle--and have for several years--that it could be limited to 17 to 30 questions.…”