Washington -- U.S. Representative Barbara Cubin (R-WY) sent a strong message to leadership in the House of Representatives today that it is time to responsibly reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). Cubin voted against H.R. 4137, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, a reauthorization of HEA that would waste taxpayer dollars on unnecessary new federal programs and place tighter restrictions on both public and private higher education institutions.

“While I fully support reauthorizing the Higher Education Act and increasing the number of grants and loans available to students across the Cowboy state, this wreckless and misguided reauthorization will waste millions of taxpayer dollars, tie the hands of our local college and university leaders and force what can only be described as price controls on our nations’ higher education institutions,” Cubin said.

Among its many troublesome provisions, the bill will create nearly four dozen new, costly and duplicative federal programs. These new federal bureaucracies, many of which serve the same purpose as already existing federal and state agencies, will result in at least $700 million in new spending.

The legislation will also place burdensome requirements on state legislatures, dictating the level of funding they must provide for their higher education institutions. Cubin opposes placing unnecessary mandates on state governments, believing that decisions to fund new campus buildings or expand student aid must remain with local officials closest to the needs of their communities.

Additionally, the bill will hold colleges and universities accountable to the federal government, rather than consumers, for their tuition costs. Federal grant funds to higher education institutions would be determined by the school’s tuition prices. This would require these institutions to justify their prices to the government instead of to students and parents, who are capable of deciding whether a school’s price is fair on their own.

While Cubin recognizes that costs of higher education have grown dramatically over the years, she believes that government regulation of pricing comes with unintended consequences. Penalizing institutions for making investments to improve and expand their facilities and programs could significantly impact the quality of education colleges and universities can provide their students.