The bill would reauthorize the Higher Education Act, which was last renewed in 1998 and has been due for an overhaul since 2003. The HEA governs a broad swath of federal student-aid and other college-level programs.

In addition to tweaking the law’s teacher-training elements, the bill simplifies the main federal student-aid application from seven to three pages and alters eligibility and evaluation components of the college-access programs known as TRIO.

Congress approved the bill on July 31, two days after a conference committee hammered out remaining differences between the House and Senate versions. The bill next heads to the president, who is expected to sign it.

Observers noted that the stiffer teacher-college accountability pieces constitute one of the few parts of the bill to focus on a concrete student-outcome variable, such as test scores.

“The vast majority of the [higher education accountability] debate is focused on college costs and money—the finance piece, rather than focusing on the outcomes we’re getting for that money,” said Sara Mead, a policy analyst at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank. LINK (subscription required)