Josh Hawley, a freshman senator from Missouri and rising GOP star, has targeted the “higher ed monopoly” in new legislative proposals. But some observers don’t see much impact beyond rhetoric.
Freshman GOP senator Josh Hawley has sought to make a name for himself in recent weeks by going on the attack against liberal elites.
He’s gone after tech giants in public comments as well as “anti-flag” shoe brands. His most recent target is traditional higher ed. Hawley introduced two bills earlier this month aiming to shake up traditional higher ed. One would remove most eligibility standards for short-term training programs to access Pell Grants and instead assess them based on student outcomes. Another bill would put colleges on the hook for defaulted student loans.
“You shouldn’t have to take on a mountain of debt and get a four-year degree you don’t want in order to get a good job in our state and in our country,” the Missouri Republican said in touting the bills.
Neither idea is original in higher ed policy circles. There’s already bipartisan legislation backed by community colleges and business groups that would open Pell eligibility to programs as short as eight weeks, potentially turning the program into the biggest supporter of job training in the country. And lawmakers have offered a slew of “risk-sharing” proposals in recent years. Senator Lamar Alexander, the GOP chairman of the Senate education committee, said earlier this year he wants to make higher ed programs accountable for loan repayment rates.