It took five years and 14 extensions, but Congress has finally cleared a bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, the major law governing federal student aid.
The bill, which would set federal higher-education policy for at least the next five years, easily passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon by a vote of 380 to 49. The Senate later approved it, 83 to 8. The bill now heads to President Bush, who is expected to sign it into law, even though his administration has criticized the cost of some of the new programs it would create.