by Vince Sampson and Mike B. Goldstein

Congress is poised to give the HEA a much-needed update. The House of Representatives have introduced legislation and discussions are picking up in the Senate, but questions remain as to the scope and timing for completing action.

The Higher Education Act (HEA), the foundation law for the financing of American higher education, was enacted in 1965, when telephones still had dials and computers filled large rooms. It last was reauthorized in 2008, when the digital revolution was just taking hold.