Last August, Congress signed into law the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which reauthorizes the Higher Education Act of 1965. This act is the first piece of comprehensive higher education reform legislation in 10 years and totals over 1,000 pages in length. The law is broad in scope, focusing on problems such as the complex financial aid process and the rising cost of textbooks as well as illegal file sharing on campus. This is the first in a series of three articles that examine the various aspects of this law.

In a speech that was at times solemn and at others lighthearted, Provost Biddy Martin discussed Cornell’s role within higher education yesterday afternoon in Call Auditorium. Her second annual Academic State of the University focused on how Cornell stacks up against the trends in what she called “the golden age” of higher education.

Last year Martin focused on many of the challenges that Cornell faced, including the replacement of retiring faculty, making innovative changes to the curriculum and insuring diversity in all facets of the University.