Higher Education Act

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), Public Law 89–329, was initiated and passed as a part of President Lyndon Johnson's ambitious social policy programs, which were known as the “Great Society.” The many subsequent reauthorizations and various amendments of the HEA have continued to provide means for greater access to higher education. This entry discusses the most noteworthy sections of original law and of the legislative changes chronologically. In addition, the entry reviews relevant cases that have emerged in court and that challenged applications of the law.

The main impetus for the HEA was President's Johnson's desire to use education as a tool for economic growth and development, an approach that fit within his broader social policy agenda. For example, Johnson sought to push the United States toward greater opportunities for the disenfranchised through governmental action, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The HEA was designed to make higher education more accessible to populations of persons who were previously unable to attend these educational institutions because of economic circumstances. The HEA provided grants to institutions of higher learning for research, allocated need-based aid to students in the form of scholarships and loans, and attempted to link improvements in higher education with K-12 education through support for teacher preparation and advancement.

In the decades after its passage, the HEA has been amended to further support its original intent of providing greater opportunities for individuals [Page 249]to attend higher education and supplying resources to improve the facilities of colleges and universities. One of the most significant changes related to the HEA came in the passage of the omnibus Education Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92–318), which included the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act (now commonly referred to as Title IX). This provision prohibited discrimination based on sex in any educational program that was to receive federal support and funding; it is now codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1681. Today, the term Title IX is seemingly synonymous with equality in athletics, but the legislation was not specifically written to remedy inequality in this area. Athletics just happened to provide the most egregious example of discrimination.

The Title IX provisions of the HEA have been repeatedly litigated. Specifically, in Cannon v. University of Chicago (1979), the U.S. Supreme Court held that individuals had the right to bring suit under Title IX. Further, in Grove City College v. Bell (1984), the Court ruled that Title IX could also be applied to private colleges that do not get direct grants from the federal government but whose students use federal financial aid. However, the Court restricted the scope of the regulations so that they did not have to be applied to the entire institution—therefore exempting athletics in the eyes of some critics. Eventually, through further litigation, near parity was achieved, and Title IX is now seen as a great success for equal rights.

In the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (Public Law 102–325), which included Title IV, Congress attempted to crack down on technical schools, colleges, and universities that provided financial incentives to admissions officers based on a commission system in the recruiting of students. This step to combat the enrollment of academically underprepared students into programs of marginal quality and value succeeded for some time. However, this success was fleeting, culminating in the filing of a rash of lawsuits against the for-profit education sector. In many of these cases, employees sought relief under the False Claims Act for violations of Title IV, which prohibits such unscrupulous tactics. One of these prominent cases was United States of America ex rel. Hendow v. University of Phoenix (2008). Eventually, the Apollo Group reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Education by paying a $9.8 million fine after a review of the University of Phoenix recruiter and admissions officer compensation packages found them to be problematic.

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