Bill 4283 – Educational Change Is Coming!

There is an educational battle raging on Capital Hill of which few are aware, yet will affect every engineering educator, school, and student. The bill, H.R. (House of Representatives) 4283, if enacted, will repeal, revise, and expand parts of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). While some of these proposals are not contested, such as canceling student loan indebtedness for families of 9/11 victims, most of the other provisions are controversial. One provision, in particular, is disconcerting: the revision involving policies for institutions’ transfer of credits. If this was to pass, a student passing a specific course would be able to apply those course credits to any other United States institution offering that same course. In other words, a student could take Engineering 101 at a for-profit institution, such as Strayer University, and the credits must be accepted at any U.S. institution, including traditional non-profit universities, offering Engineering 101. This is just one aspect of this controversial bill, and there are many others.