Rubén Hinojosa: “I rise to support H.R. 6138, the third extension of the Higher Education Act. Although I would prefer that we would…”

“I rise to support H.R. 6138, the third extension of the Higher Education Act. Although I would prefer that we would consider a conference report to complete the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. I would like to thank the chairman and ranking member for working with me and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to include two amendments of critical importance to Hispanic-serving institutions. One amendment would eliminate the 2-year wait out period that interrupts HSI's ability to benefit from the title V Developing Institutions grants. The second amendment will finally put an end to the so-called '50 Percent Rule' that became an intrusive requirement mandating that Hispanic-serving institutions collect and report to the Department of Education individual information on family income and family size for every Hispanic student on campus in order to demonstrate that 50 percent of the Hispanic student enrollment meets the definition of low income. HSIs already are required to demonstrate that they have a high population of needy students as measured by eligibility for need-based student aid. The 50 percent rule added nothing to the targeting of funds to those with greatest need and only created an administrative nightmare that was a disincentive to participation in the title V program.”