Washington – The American Association of University Women applauds the Senate for passing (95-0) the Higher Education Amendments of 2007 (S. 1642) today, a bill which maintains many important programs for college students, and provides some new opportunities to invest in helping all students receive the benefits of a higher education, particularly women.
AAUW is pleased that S. 1642 allows students to qualify for Pell grants based on a year-round enrollment schedule. Many nontraditional students — who are more likely to be women — attend classes during the summer, and federal Pell grants should be available to all students willing to make a commitment to higher education, even if they have to chip away at that dream one class at a time. Nontraditional students are also addressed through the program, which provides on-campus child care. Currently, campus-based childcare only serves a small percentage of the need and this bill makes continued investments to support the increased participation of parenting students, especially low-income women, through the provision of campus-based childcare centers.
AAUW is very pleased that this legislation recognizes the need for programs to assist women and minorities enter the higher education professoriate by including the Patsy T. Mink Graduate Fellowship Program. Women make up only 39 percent of full-time collegiate faculty and they tend to be concentrated in less senior instructional positions and at two-year institutions, as opposed to research universities. The Patsy T. Mink Graduate Fellowship Program would authorize fellowships for doctoral and terminal master’s degree study in exchange for service in the higher education professoriate. Appropriately named in honor of AAUW member and former Congresswoman Patsy Mink, the fellowships would target minorities and women who plan to teach at degree-granting institutions of higher education. AAUW strongly supports this new program.
"This legislation takes important steps in modernizing the Higher Education Act to reflect the changing demographics and needs of today’s college students," said AAUW Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Lisa M. Maatz. "Other recently passed measures take important steps forward in making college more affordable. Taken together, these bills could help more students get to college, and prevent others from mortgaging their futures in the process."
AAUW looks forward to working with the House to pass their version of the Higher Education Act reauthorization. Visit http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/issue_advocacy/actionpages/hea.cfm to read AAUW’s position paper on higher education.
For more information or to schedule an interview with AAUW Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Lisa Maatz, please contact Ashley Carr, AAUW Director of Communications at 202/785-7745 or carra@aauw.org.
