March 6, 2003

Contact: Amy Raaf, (202) 502-7561; or Dan Iannicola Jr., (202) 502-7719.

KU chancellor to testify Friday in KC at hearing on U.S. Higher Education Act

 • Click to view news release and text of Hemenway's March 10 testimony before the Senate Ways and Means Subcommittee on Higher Education

 •UPDATE: Click to view text of Hemenway's March 7 testimony at a U.S. Department of Education hearing in Kansas City, Mo., on reauthorization of the Higher Education Act

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway will testify Friday on behalf of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU) at a U.S. Department of Education hearing in Kansas City, Mo., on reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

The chancellor will present the AAU's priorities, which include:

 • increasing access to higher education for low-income students by strengthening support for grants and early intervention programs, particularly the Pell Grant program
 • increasing financial support for graduate education through the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need and Jacob K. Javits Fellowship programs
 • increasing student loan borrowing limits, especially for graduate students
 • improving student loan terms and conditions
 • ensuring the accountability of higher education institutions through accreditation

Testimony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 7, at the Westin Crown Center Century Ballroom, One Pershing Road in Kansas City, Mo.

The Department of Education is developing proposals for the reauthorization and funding of the federal Higher Education Act. The act deals with student financial aid programs (grants, loans) as well as university accountability and accreditation issues.

The AAU is an organization of 62 leading public and private research universities. KU, a member of the AAU since 1909, is one of only 34 public universities in the nation that have been admitted into the AAU. Hemenway, chancellor at KU since 1995, also is chair of the NCAA Division I governing board and serves on the board of directors of the American Council on Education, one of the nation's largest higher education advocacy groups.

Others expected to testify Friday include:

 • Terry Hartle, senior vice president and director of the Division of Government and Public Affairs at the American Council on Education and a prominent figure in national higher education circles
 • Sarah A. Flanagan, vice president for government relations and policy at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
 • representatives of the American Association of Community Colleges and other colleges and universities

To obtain additional information about the hearing, please contact Amy Raaf at (202) 502-7561 or amy.raaf@ed.gov, or Dan Iannicola Jr. at (202) 502-7719 or dan.iannicola@ed.gov.