Historical Events

Historical Events

Higher Education Act:

HEA was passed in 1965 to achieve three goals: promote equality of educational opportunity, reduce the burden of college costs, and assure a diverse system of higher education. During the 1960s and early 1970s, the goal of achieving equality of educational opportunity was the most prominent federal policy directive. For example, the larger proportion of Title III monies appropriated in the early years (1966-1972) went to black colleges. By the mid- 1970s, however, the federal policy had been profoundly influenced by retrenchment and the rising cost of college education. As higher education faced increasing costs for operation, management, and instruction, federal officials used Title III increasingly to reduce the burden of college cost in two-year colleges and in small, white, private colleges (mostly denominational) (Lane, 2009).

Hence a controversy arose as to the' major intent of Title III. Was Title III enacted mainly to promote equality of educational opportunity by strengthening black colleges, or was it to assure a diverse system of higher education, irrespective of achieving equality of educational opportunity for minority students? There were strong lobbyists, organizations, and constituencies with their own answers to these questions (e.g., National Association for Equal Opportunity, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and American Council on Education).

The passage of the HEA marked a milestone in the history of the federal government's financing of higher education. Prior to its passage, only the Morrill Land Grant Acts (1862, 1890), the GI Bill, the National Defense Education Act, and to some degree the Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963 had made major federal impacts on higher education. President Johnson's commitment to education resulted in the passage of two major pieces of education legislation during 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the HEA.

The level of federal assistance to higher education increased rapidly during the 1960s and early 1970s. By the early 19705, because higher education institutions had expanded beyond student demand, enrollments leveled off and inflation increased the cost of education. This situation created a state of fiscal depression with1n the system of higher education. The boon of federal assistance to higher education during one period became a liability in a later period. As enrollments leveled off and declined on some campuses, the depth of service to the federal government for facilities that no longer are being used to full capacity became a financial burden for some institutions(Lane, 2009).

While this financial burden was felt by all institutions, the smaller institutions were hit particularly hard. These institutions' financial stability was undermined, and as train was placed on the federal objective of assuring a strong system of higher education. The ensuing crisis necessitated that the federal government increase both direct and indirect aid to institutions of higher education. Indirect aid was provided mainly through the form of student aid programs. Because institutional financial stability, under student aid programs, was tied to the number of students receiving aid, institutional representatives became concerned about benefiting from indirect aid, and ...