U.S. Rep. Ruben E. Hinojosa, D-Texas, to Lead U.S. House’s Higher-Education Panel
According to an article titled “Texas Democrat Will Lead U.S. House’s Higher-Education Panel,” written by Kelly Field that appeared in the Jan. 19, 2006 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, “one of the chief Congressional champions of higher-education programs for Hispanic Americans,” U.S. Rep. Ruben E. Hinojosa, D-Texas, “will head the House of Representatives’ subcommittee on higher-education policy in the 110th Congress.”
Hinojosa, according to the article, “is best known for his efforts to expand federal assistance for Hispanic-serving institutions.” He was elected to Congress in 1997 and since that time, spending on Hispanic-serving institutions “has grown from $12-million to nearly $95-million annually.” The subcommittee, formerly known as the “Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness,” recently was renamed “Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.”
As part of his appointment, Hinojosa, according to Field, is “expected to push for passage of legislation that would amend the Higher Education Act to create a new grant program for graduate programs at Hispanic-serving institutions. Mr. Hinojosa is the chief sponsor of that bill, HR 451, which was introduced last Friday.”
Expectations for New Role
Expectations of positive change are high when it comes to Hinojosa’s election to his new post, especially in light of past achievements and accolades. However, in the article Field wrote, “it’s unclear how Mr. Hinojosa might seek to shape the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the law that governs most federal student-aid programs. Congress has made halting progress on renewing, or reauthorizing, the law over the past several years. The House approved its latest reauthorization bill in March, but the Senate never completed work on its version of the bill.”
Election Came As a Surprise
Although Hinojosa “has served on the House’s education panel for nine years, he is a newcomer to the higher-education subcommittee” according to Field. In the past he has served on the “Subcommittee on Select Education” and on the “Subcommittee on Education Reform.”
Field also reports about Hinojosa. “His election as chairman of the higher-education subcommittee came as a surprise to some higher-education lobbyists, who had expected the post to go to either Rep. Robert E. Andrews of New Jersey, or Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California, who are more senior on the committee. But both legislators chose to lead other subcommittees, leaving higher education to Rep. Hinojosa, the next in line.”
Check out my blog tomorrow for more information about student loan news and changes in Congress that relate to higher education in the United States. With the 110th Congress not quite halfway through its first 100 hours, daily changes are sure to occur.
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Be sure to tune in next Monday for my next blog on student loan issues in the news.
Student Loan Girl