On the heels of the Republican release of their proposal to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, the Democrats released a “discussion draft” yesterday.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chair of the Senate education committee, released a draft proposal that will remain open for public comment through August 29.  In an outline of the proposal, the Senator put forward the following concepts:

• Increase affordability and reduce college costs for students by creating a state-federal college affordability partnership to increase state investment in higher education and lower the costs of tuition for students.
• Reinstate year-round Pell Grants.
• Eliminate origination fees on federal Direct Loans.
• Support community college and industry partnerships that promote innovation in higher education.
• Expand access to dual enrollment and early college high school programs.
• Strengthen student loan servicing standards through the creation of common-sense consumer protections.
• Streamline repayment plans to create a single income-based repayment option.
• Automatically enroll severely delinquent borrowers into income-based repayment.
• Allow private student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy.
• Reform abuses in the collections process and reduce unfair fees.
• Provide student and policymakers with more meaningful disclosures and accountability metrics for institutions, including loan repayment rates.
• Establish a risk-sharing commission to explore holding low-performing institutions financially responsible for poor student outcomes.
• Protect taxpayers by changing the 90-10 rule for for-profit institutions to 85-15.
• Guarantee that federal education dollars are not used on advertising and marketing.
• Create a student complaint system to better track harmful practices.
• Authorize several programs to reform and improve teacher and school leader preparation.
• Provide notification to middle and high school students of their potential eligibility for federal aid.
• Provide better up-front information and disclosures to prospective students.
• Standardize the financial aid award letter .
• Strengthen entrance and exit loan counseling.