U.S. asst. secretary of education visits Penn

The ivory tower of higher education can often seem like it is shut off from the rest of the world. But for those in the U.S. Department of Education, it is central to the work they do. And Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education David Longanecker bases his career on the nation's colleges and universities. Longanecker visited the University last Thursday, primarily as a guest lecturer for Associate Vice President of Policy Planning David Morse's class -- "Goals of Public Policy" -- in the Graduate School of Education. As an assistant to Education Secretary Dick Reilly, Longanecker works in Washington, D.C., and is primarily concerned with the financial issues of higher education -- especially student aid in loans and grants. Longanecker presides over a staff of 15,000 who recommend to Congress how much money higher education should receive and allocates the money among America's colleges, universities and trade schools. According to Longanecker, the University receives approximately $65 million from the federal government for financial aid every year. Longanecker said the Higher Education Act of 1965 is one of the most important pieces of legislation to his department. It dictates the rules and allocations for financial aid and comes up for review every five years. "[It] is the federal government's first subsidy set aside for education," Longanecker explained. "It defines who will be eligible for student assistance," he added. "It also sets out requirements for institutions of higher education." The Higher Education Act must be substantially reprocessed every five years to redefine its guidelines. "We send Congress our suggestions for amendments," Longanecker said. "They review them and either adopt or reject our suggestions." Longanecker added that higher education legislation was easier to pass before the 1994 election of the 104th Congress. According to Longanecker, the Republican-dominated Congress now opposes most legislation, while the previous Congress "passed seven bills in 18 months" on postsecondary education. He also noted that by 1997, the number of high school graduates in California will increase by 80 percent, he said. "This country has some real problems, but we can't afford not to educate them," Longanecker added.