The US House of Representatives passed the bill on July 31, 2008 by a vote of 380-49. The Senate passed the report Thursday night 83 to 8, with one "present" vote. The bill headed to the White House, and President Bush signed it.

US Senate Committee Chairman Ted Kennedy (D-MA) issued a press release on the final passage of the bill, commenting, "We're enacting sweeping higher education reform that tackles skyrocketing costs, simplifies college aid, reins in abuses by lenders, helps the troops and gives intellectually disabled students a chance." In the House, a joint statement from Reps. George Miller (D-CA), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), and Ric Keller (R-FL) was released. Members praised the bill's passage as a victory for college students and their families, and a step toward ensuring college students graduate with 21st century skills.

The higher education community will spend coming weeks and months discerning what actual effect the bill's provisions will have. The lending community does not see the bill as particularly bad or good, and is still dealing with the aftermath of earlier pieces of legislation. Institutions will be affected by the significant new reporting requirements-requirements that drew pointed criticism from Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), a former university president and Secretary of Education.

The conference agreement is available here:
http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2008_07_29_E/KOS08400_xml.pdf
Senator Kennedy's press release on the final HEA passage and a staff-prepared top-level summary of the bill's provisions is available here:
http://kennedy.senate.gov/newsroom/press_release.cfm?id=1c5022c1-eb21-4ca6-97e4-8ceef21548d9
The joint Miller, McKeon, Hinojosa and Keller statement is available here:
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/edlabor_dem/College073108.html