Provisions in the proposed reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act (HEA) that raised the ire of the traditional higher education industry are likely going to disappear. Thanks to the results of November’s election, the new Democratic majority in Congress is expected to drop those objectionable provisions.

The HEA, the law that governs most federal student-aid programs, expires in June, the result of an extension approved by the former Congress after the House and Senate could not agree on terms of a reauthorization bill. Now, the Democrats will likely draft their own version.

Among the proposals going by the wayside is the establishment of a “single definition” of higher education institution. Such a change would have allowed for-profit institutions to be eligible for additional student financial aid and other funding.

The reauthorization bill in the last Congress also called for the repeal of the “90/10 rule,” which requires that institutions whose students are eligible for federal aid must have at least 10 percent of their income coming from nonfederal sources.

The Congressional power shift also signals an expected death knell for language in the bill embodying the so-called “Academic Bill of Rights.” The inclusion of such language would likely spawn renewed attempts to legislate how or what faculty may teach.

Democrats are promising to focus on making college more affordable. That could take the form of making college tuition tax-deductible, boosting the maximum Pell Grant from $4,050 to $5,100, and cutting interest rates on loans taken out by students and their parents.

— Donald Feldstein