by Danielle Douglas-Gabriel

The year ahead could usher in significant changes in the federal government’s role in higher education. Events set in motion in 2017 will loom large, though resolutions may be years in the making. Here are a few things worth watching in the coming months:

Senate higher education bill: Universities, families, lenders and anyone with ties to higher education should be interested in how the Senate addresses the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965. House Republicans took the first major step in December by introducing legislation to overhaul the federal law governing almost every aspect of higher education.