Higher education officials and students across the country will be seeing a lot of change this year in the way of financial aid.

"Every five years, Congress undergoes a re-authorization process of the Higher Education Act," said Anna Griswold, University assistant vice president for student and financial aid. "During this time, they will debate proposals on what to do differently with student aid. We can expect to see lots of change."

One change Congress is proposing would hurt the University as well as students.

Congress could pass legislation requiring that the University return all tuition money to the federal treasury if a student drops out of school -- even if it is the last week of classes.

"If they offer these refunds, it would end up hurting low drop-out rate universities such as Penn State but helping the federal treasury because it would receive the financial aid money back," Griswold said.

Currently, the University does not return tuition monies of students who drop out.

"Penn State would face a problem if we had this refund policy," she said. "The institution would lose money and this might cause the University to raise tuition."

Congress will also discuss different ways to improve student aid programs to make them more understandable to students, Griswold said.

"One thing Congress will try to improve is the student loan system," Griswold said. "Oftentimes, after students graduate, they get confused as to who they owe money to for their loans and they get into default. This is not the students' fault but the programs' because it does not clarify who the students need to pay."

Gregory Knight, vice provost and dean for undergraduate education, said confusion about loan repayment is not uncommon.

"Overall, we welcome any program that would increase the resources of financial aid to students," Knight said.

Other topics Congress will debate include whether banks should process credit checks on loan applicants and if they should offer loans to those with bad credit ratings, Griswold added.

Last February, two members of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor visited the University to collect information on how the financial aid process works and to get student reaction on the process.

Congress will use information collected during the study to help determine what changes are necessary.