michelle: i think the current legislation written by virginia represent the priorities of lamarr alexander, the chairman of the committee. he is in favor of streamlining federal loan programs and federal grant programs, and simplifying the form. has a shtick where he waits around the fafsa. we are treating the bill as a republican wish list of ideas that senator alexander will have to work with the top democrat on his committee, patty murray, to write a bill that could attract democratic votes. it will ultimately need 60 votes to pass the senate. susan: the other component is the trump administration. are there signals about what they will support? michael: the white house quietly released a one pager on principles for authorizing the higher education act when house republicans released their bill last month. it is largely in line with what the house republicans are doing. education secretary betsy devos has not been particularly vocal on higher education issues. she is focused mostly on k-12 will education which is where her experience is. we have not heard very clearly from a trump admin

lamarr alexander's program unifiedreate a program.sounds sick a simplified system, but your critics would say that it eliminates some of the aid available to low income students. how would you address that criticism? >> we do not eliminate any funding. we have done no cuts for financial aid in this bill. we have simplified it. i have heard, since i have been in washington, d.c., that the fafsa is impossible to deal with it we have too many programs, they are confusing, we have too many grant programs, they are confusing. we are responding to the public and our members. we have members who have children who have gone to college in recent times and have dealt with these issues. i have a grandson who is a junior in college. i listened to his mother complain about filling out the fafsa for him and the intricacies of financial aid. studentsis to help look for ways to be able to complete a college education with a minimum hassle. particularly as it relates to -- to financial aid. i graduated from college without any debt. a lot of people sa