A New Direction

Results of the 2006 election mean big and good changes for college access and college affordability. Watch for student aid to be front and center as Congressional Democrats work to retain their new majority status.

The 2006 election is in many ways the mirror opposite of the 1994 mid-term election. As in 1994, the minority party ran against a majority of the same party as the President and with a relatively clear agenda. In 1994, few voters knew what was in the 1994 Republican "Contract with America" when they voted. They voted against a Democratic Congressional majority and a Democratic President.

The same holds in 2006 with relatively few voters knowing what is in the 2006 Democratic "New Direction for America" agenda. Yesterday, folks voted against a Republican Congressional majority and Republican President.

But as in 1995, in 2007, we expect the new majority to move swiftly to enact its agenda. A centerpiece of that agenda are three college access and affordability items:

1) Cut student loan interest rates in half;
2) Extend college tuition tax deductibility; and
3) Raise the maximum Pell Grant by $1,000.

Higher Ed Watch has listed them above in the order that we think will be the Democratic majority's priority. Why that order?

First, the Democratic leadership has campaigned hard and vocally on its proposed student loan interest rate cut. They're bought in. Second, student loans and tax cuts can be folded into a filibuster-protected budget reconciliation bill, which is often used as a legislative tool for fast and controversial action. Those bills tend to move in the Spring. Third, Pell Grant funding is discretionary spending and carried out through the Appropriations process. Those bills tend to move in the Fall . . . or Winter.

But the most important reason Democrats will move to cut student loan interest rates quickly is because college loan debt is a quintissential middle class issue. The average Pell grant recipient comes from a family with a median family income of $15,400. Those families didn't decide this election. Middle class families did.

In the coming days and weeks, Higher Ed Watch will offer specific recommendations for how to pay for the college affordability agenda and how to win middle class families.