The National Association of Scholars is pleased to release a toolkit for NAS members and others interested in urging Congress to include important policy reforms in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, due this year. Join our Facebook live video today, May 23 at 2:00 PM, or watch here on the NAS website below. Then, download the resources in the toolkit below.
About the Higher Education Act
The reauthorization of the Higher Education Act presents a signal opportunity to repair American colleges and universities. Last year, NAS released the Freedom to Learn Amendments, a detailed list of policy recommendations for the Higher Education Act. We mailed to every member of the House and Senate education committees a copy of the Freedom to Learn Amendments along with a letter that more than 300 academics and citizens signed.
We are pleased that the PROSPER Act, which would reauthorize the Higher Education Act, includes many, though not all, of NAS’s proposed Freedom to Learn Amendments. We invite NAS members and other concerned citizens to urge Congress to pass a version of the PROSPER Act that protects freedom of speech and expression; streamlines federal student aid; reforms accreditation; protects due process; welcomes marketplace competition; and adopts other policies that will set American higher education on firmer ground.
Send a letter to your members of Congress.
The PROSPER Act offers important opportunities to protect freedom of speech and religious freedom, streamline and cap federal student aid, and open higher education to marketplace competition. But it fails to reform the system of accreditation, adequately protect due process, and enact other necessary reforms.
Find your members of Congress >
Download NAS’s template letter to a member of Congress >
Write an op-ed or letter to the editor of your local paper.
Over the decades, the Higher Education Act has been transformed into a special interest bonanza. It primarily serves the interests of legacy colleges and universities, especially their administrators and bureaucrats. Secondarily HEA has come to serve the interests of political factions, rather than the common good. And HEA advances these special interests at the expense of American college students. The Higher Education Act needs a top-to-bottom overhaul, and the PROSPER provides a start.
See NAS’s full statement on the PROSPER Act >
If you write an op-ed or letter to the editor, please let us know! Write to us at [email protected].
Post on social media.
Tell your members of Congress and fellow citizens about the reforms that higher education needs.
Suggested tweets:
- The PROSPER Act is a strong start to reforming higher ed, but it must be bolstered. See full @NASorg review of the bill. @EdWorkforce @edworkforcedems @virginiafoxx https://www.nas.org/articles/prosper_act_strong_on_student_loan_reform_and_religious_freedom_insufficien
- The PROSPER Act would call out speech zones and provide transparency for college speech policies. http://thehill.com/opinion/education/388929-congress-pass-the-prosper-act-for-federal-student-aid-reform
- The PROSPER Act protects students’ religious freedom and stops the government from penalizing religious colleges. Thank you, @virginiafoxx and @EdWorkforce. http://thehill.com/opinion/education/388929-congress-pass-the-prosper-act-for-federal-student-aid-reform
- The PROSPER Act is wrong to repeal the American History for Freedom Program, which would support teaching traditional American history. https://www.nas.org/articles/prosper_act_strong_on_student_loan_reform_and_religious_freedom_insufficien
- PROSPER Act would repeal the “gainful employment” rule and other burdensome regulations that stifled innovation and competition. Thank you, @virginiafoxx and @EdWorkforce. https://www.nas.org/articles/prosper_act_strong_on_student_loan_reform_and_religious_freedom_insufficien
- PROSPER Act must distinguish remedial education from college enrollment. Colleges should not be permitted to accept Title IV student loans for remedial courses. https://www.nas.org/articles/prosper_act_strong_on_student_loan_reform_and_religious_freedom_insufficien
Suggested Facebook posts:
- The Higher Education Act has turned into a special interest bonanza. It privileges legacy colleges and bureaucrats. The PROSPER Act, while imperfect, makes major steps toward overhauling the system. https://www.nas.org/articles/prosper_act_strong_on_student_loan_reform_and_religious_freedom_insufficien
- “Free speech zones and restrictive speech codes are inherently at odds with the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution” – a key clause in the PROSPER Act. Congress must protect free speech, and the PROSPER Act is an important start. See NAS’s full review of the PROSPER Act. https://www.nas.org/articles/prosper_act_strong_on_student_loan_reform_and_religious_freedom_insufficien
- The PROSPER Act would call out speech zones and provide transparency for college speech policies, but lacks an effective mechanism to encourage colleges to actually protect free speech. Colleges found to obstruct student speech and association rights should be denied eligibility for Title IV loans and grants. http://thehill.com/opinion/education/388929-congress-pass-the-prosper-act-for-federal-student-aid-reform
Join the National Association of Scholars!
Stand with us as we fight for intellectual freedom and the integrity of higher education.
