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1957: The Space Race Begins
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik on October 4, 1957 (Kowalski, 2019). In the midst of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were in competition to spread their economic and political beliefs to other nations (Kowalski, 2019). Fearing that the Soviet Union was ahead of the race, the launch of Sputnik kindled America’s motivation to cultivate a more educated population (Baum, Kurose, & McPherson, 2013). -
1958: Statutory Law-National Defense Education Act of 1958
As a response to the launch of Sputnik, and to strengthen the United States chances of keeping up with the Soviet Union, president Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Defense Education Act of 1958 enacted by Congress (Baum, Kurose, & McPherson, 2013). One of the areas sanctioned by the National Defense Education Act of 1958 served to assist in establishing low-interest loans for students in need to gain access to higher education (20 U.S.C. § 401 et seq.). -
1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson endorsed the promise of a “Great Society”
President Johnson supported creating government policies to provide an education for the economically disadvantaged; he believed education would create access to an escape out of poverty (Brown-Collier, 1998). -
1965: Statutory Law-Higher Education Act of 1965
President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Brown-Collier, 1998). The Higher Education Act of 1965 aimed to strengthen educational resources of colleges and Universities, as well as to provide financial assistance for students in post-secondary education (20 U.S.C. § 1001). President Johnson hoped the policy would help individuals become more employable and provide access to resources (Brown-Collier, 1998). -
1972: Statutory Law-Pell Grant Established
The statute establishes the basic eligibility requirements and amount an undergraduate student may receive in an educational opportunity grant (20 U.S.C. § 1070(a)).The statute is a provision under the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide educational assistance to those individuals otherwise unable to afford access to higher education. -
1972: Statutory Law-Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Program
• The statute is an amendment of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The provision grants permission to the states and provides funding for states to allocate funds to help students and families in financial need gain access to higher education (20 U.S.C. § 1070(c)). -
1978: Statutory Law-Middle Income Student Assistance Act
The statute is an amendment of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The provision attempts to establish an income threshold in the estimated family contribution (EFC) which helped determine eligibility for the basic educational opportunity grant to aid financially disadvantaged undergraduate students (20 U.S.C. § 1001). -
2007: Statutory Law-College Cost Reduction and Access Act
The statute is an amendment of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Increasing the amount of Pell for eligible students and decreasing loan interest rates were the revisions created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (20 U.S.C. § 1001). -
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2007-2009: The Great Recession
Social disparities brought on by the Great Recession caused a socioeconomic divide (Glei, Goldman, & Weinstein, 2019). Although some government programs performed better than others, the overall, higher education received the hardest hit (Seltzer, 2019). -
Final Timeline Moment
With the Trump administration working to reform the Higher Education Act, Ivanka Trump, one of the president’s advisors is vocal about restructuring to create affordable access to higher education (Kreighbaum, 2019). However, the Trump administration focuses on streamlining loan repayment and promotes limiting student loan borrowing, while completely ignoring the root cause of keeping higher education accessible, the growing cost to attend college (Kreighbaum, 2019).