The Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 expired Sunday, but measures to permanently renew the legislation have already begun.

If passed in both houses of the U.S. Congress, the bill would continue to give the Secretary of Education authority to waive rules or requirements of the student financial aid programs. The bill would protect students from further financial hardship when they are called to serve in the armed forces or are affected by a national emergency.

The House of Representatives voted to permanently renew the HEROS Act on Sept. 18 after the motion was introduced on Sept. 11. The Senate has not yet taken action to renew the bill. Originally signed on Aug. 18, 2003, the legislation was set to expire in September 2005 but was extended by Public Law.

“It’s sad of course,” Gregory Kienzl, visiting professor with the Forum for the Future of Public Education in the College of Education, said regarding the bill’s expiration. “Here we are penalizing the men and women who go into the armed services.”

Kienzl said he supported the renewal of the act but was shocked he had not heard much about it.

According to the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators’ Web site, permanently extending the legislation would make it easier for college students called to active military duty to apply for financial aid and repay student loans. It would also provide financial aid relief to students affected by a military operation.

Under the bill, the Secretary of Education can waive rules for institutions such as colleges and universities as well as lenders located in a national disaster area.

The legislation recommends institutions provide a full tuition and fees credit to students for the period of education they were unable to complete due to a call to active service. If students withdraw due to active service, those institutions should minimize reapplication requirements and “provide the greatest flexibility possible” for application deadlines.

The current University Student Code does not include details about tuition waivers for students who withdraw to serve in the armed forces, but it does give students who withdraw within a certain time frame half credit for each course in which they were enrolled and receiving at least a C- grade.

Students called to active duty under training orders will not be granted academic credit for courses unless they tried to postpone their active duty and were denied, according to Article Three of the University Student Code. But this requirement does not apply to students called to active duty “as a result of national emergency or as a result of the mobilization of the Reserved Forces,” according to the student code.