IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 505 
Honoring the 50th anniversary of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 29, 2015 
Mr. HINOJOSA (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GENE 
GREEN of Texas, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. VELA, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 
SABLAN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. POLIS, Ms. 
FUDGE, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, 
Mr. POCAN, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. LEE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 
Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. CLARKE 
of New York, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. O’ROURKE, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. 
ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. 
AL GREEN of Texas, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce 
RESOLUTION 
Honoring the 50th anniversary of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965. 
Whereas 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965; 
Whereas President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Act into 
law on November 8, 1965, as part of the ‘‘Great Soci-
ety’’; 
Whereas prior to its passage, attending institutions of higher 
education remained an unreachable dream for those with-
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•HRES 505 IH 
out the financial means or legal ability to improve their 
educational and occupational status; 
Whereas generations of Americans sought Federal legislation 
to increase access to these institutions of higher edu-
cation for populations barred from attending due to so-
cial and economic inequality; 
Whereas efforts by those in the civil rights movement cast a 
bright light on the restrictive, inhumane treatment of 
Americans facing the oppressive burden of poverty and 
racial injustice; 
Whereas while early Great Society legislation signed into law 
by President Lyndon B. Johnson prohibited discrimina-
tion based on race, color, national origin, religion, and 
sex, many Americans still lacked the education and skills 
needed to fully participate in a rapidly modernizing econ-
omy through no fault of their own; 
Whereas the Higher Education Act of 1965 authorized a vast 
array of programs and provisions supporting millions of 
low-income students and their families in their efforts to 
attend and complete studies at institutions of higher edu-
cation; 
Whereas the funding authorized by the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 continues to serve as the primary source of Fed-
eral student aid in the form of Federal grants, student 
loans, and Federal Work-Study; 
Whereas the Higher Education Act of 1965, in addition to 
offering aid directly to students, provided grants to insti-
tutions of higher education to promote research, estab-
lished a National Teacher Corps, and allocated aid to his-
torically Black colleges and universities, two-year colleges, 
and other ‘‘developing’’ institutions; 
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Whereas Congress has amended the Higher Education Act of 
1965 at various times, with key changes that strength-
ened the Act; 
Whereas the creation of the Talent Search Program in 1965 
and the Special Services for Disadvantaged Students 
Program under the reauthorization in 1968 formed, with 
the Upward Bound Program, a trio of programs (com-
monly known as ‘‘TRIO’’) designed to identify and pro-
vide services to low-income individuals, first-generation 
college students, and individuals with disabilities in their 
progress from secondary to postbaccalaureate study; 
Whereas the amendments to the Act in the Patsy Takemoto 
Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act of 1972, com-
monly known as ‘‘title IX’’, made groundbreaking 
changes that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex 
in any academic or athletic program receiving Federal 
funding or support and continue the march toward true 
equality of opportunity for all; 
Whereas the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant, signed 
into law in 1972 and now known as the Pell Grant Pro-
gram, began providing need-based grants to low-income 
students in order to further improve access to institutions 
of higher education; 
Whereas the amendments to the Higher Education Act of 
1965 have underscored the importance of preparing stu-
dents from migrant and seasonal farmworker families to 
enter and succeed in postsecondary education by pro-
viding Federal support for the High School Equivalency 
Program (HEP) and the College Assistance Migrant Pro-
gram (CAMP); 
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Whereas the 1998 amendments created the Gaining Early 
Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs 
(GEAR UP), a discretionary grant program tasked with 
increasing the number of successful low-income students 
in higher education by providing critical supports to co-
horts of students in high poverty middle schools; 
Whereas amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 
created pathways toward loan forgiveness for the Na-
tion’s servicemembers, public and civil servants, and 
teachers, allowing more graduates to serve in these im-
portant roles while working toward the prospect of great-
er financial independence; 
Whereas amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 
created title V, a Federal designation and increased sup-
port for Hispanic-serving institutions, colleges and uni-
versities that provide a significant proportion of postsec-
ondary opportunities for Latino undergraduate and grad-
uate students and low-income students; 
Whereas amendments to the Act in the Student Aid and Fis-
cal Responsibility Act, enacted as part of the Health 
Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, made 
landmark investments in Pell Grants, historically Black 
colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, 
tribal colleges and universities, predominantly Black in-
stitutions, Asian-American and Native American Pacific 
Islander-serving institutions, Alaska Native and Native 
Hawaiian-serving institutions, and other minority-serving 
institutions; 
Whereas amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 
have created Federal programs to strengthen the capacity 
of institutions enrolling undergraduates at two-year and 
four-year public and private colleges and universities, as 
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well as institutions of higher education offering graduate 
study; and 
Whereas the Higher Education Act of 1965 solidified and ex-
panded the Federal Government’s role in higher edu-
cation policy at an integral time in our Nation’s history, 
and continues to provide Americans with the means for 
access to a postsecondary education: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) honors the 50th anniversary of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965; 
(2) acknowledges those whose support and ef-
forts led to passage of the Higher Education Act of 
1965; 
(3) recognizes the significant investment the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 has made in the lives 
of American students, families, and this Nation as 
a whole; and 
(4) encourages all Americans to recognize and 
celebrate the important historical milestone rep-
resented by the congressional passage of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 and its ideals of improving 
educational access and affordability. 
Æ 
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