As Democrats now hold a majority in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, many changes in higher education are likely.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., current House minority leader and likely speaker of the House come January, has already made it clear that she plans on reducing college tuition nationwide.
"In her first 100 hours, she talked increasingly of the deductibility of college tuition," Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said. "She has talked about expanding Pell [grants] to $5,100 [per undergraduate student] and cutting student loan interest rates."
Many members of the Democratic Party have said they want to work to make college more affordable. According to Democratic National Committee spokesperson Amaya Smith, the Democrats will be overturning some Republican higher education initiatives passed in recent years.
"Under the Republicans we saw dramatic cuts to student aid, to the tune of $12 billion," Smith said. "Now, the Democrats have the opportunity to reverse some of these cuts to lower student loan interest rates and improve college affordability."
According to Smith, legislation has already been introduced regarding these financial aid cuts.
Despite now being the minority in Congress, Republican representatives said they plan to continue the work they have been doing with higher education.
According to Tom Culligan, legislative assistant for Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wisc., who vice-chairs the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the Republican House and Senate have been working to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, which deals with making college more accessible to students financially, and they plan to continue this work with the new Congress.
"The House passed a version this year and the Senate ... did not," Culligan said. "That version will die, but it will be taken up again in the new Congress -- perhaps in the spring but maybe not until 2008."
Culligan also said the leadership in the Committee on Education and Workforce will remain Republican. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., is the current chairman and will stay in that position.
University President John T. Casteen, III said he believes it is too soon to know what specific effects the Democratic majority will have on higher education but he believes cooperation between Congress members and the University will continue.
"Virginia's congress members have been helpful and cooperative when we have needed their help," Casteen stated in an e-mail. "This has been the case for 15 plus years. I expect that this will continue"
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