In October, Howard (Buck) McKeon of California introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives a bill that would penalize colleges and universities for increases in the cost of attendance.
If the bill takes effect, institutions that elevate their tuition by twice the rate of inflation over a three-year period, starting in the 2005-06 academic year, will have to explain to the U.S. Department of Education their reason for doing so and present a plan for slowing the rate of increase.
If the institution's plan does not work within another three years, the education department will be able to deny the institution access to some federal financial-aid programs. Students at penalized colleges would remain eligible for Pell Grants and federal student loans, but they would lose eligibility for other federal financial-aid programs such as work-study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and Perkins Loans. The proposal exempts the lowest-cost institutions of higher education.
Critics have protested that a major reason for the rise in cost of attendance is the drop in federal and state funding for higher education, and that the proposal would ultimately penalize the students who would lose financial-aid eligibility.