U.S. History Textbooks Boundless U.S. History The Sixties: 1960–1969 The Johnson Administration
U.S. History Textbooks Boundless U.S. History The Sixties: 1960–1969
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Concept Version 12
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Higher Education

President Johnson's Great Society made improvements to elementary, secondary, and higher education through a series of acts. 

Learning Objective

  • Distinguish the key features - as well as the effects - of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Higher Education Facilities Act, and the Higher Education Act.

Key Points

    • In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided federal funding for public education.The Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963 increased federal funding to colleges by more than five times their current amount.
    • The Higher Education Act of 1965 increased college funding further, including the creation of federally-backed scholarships and loans.

Terms

  • Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963

    Legislation signed into U.S. law by President Johnson that authorized a dramatic increase in college aid and provided better college libraries, 10-20 new graduate centers, several new technical institutes, classrooms for several hundred thousand students, and 25-30 new community colleges each year.

  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    A United States federal statute enacted on April 11, 1965 as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty," allotting more than $1 billion to help schools purchase materials, start special education programs to schools with a high concentration of low-income children, and establishing the Head Start program.

  • Higher Education Act of 1965

    Legislation signed into U.S. law as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda, with the aim of strengthening the educational resources of colleges and universities and providing financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education. 

Full Text

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act

The most important educational component of Johnson's Great Society was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, designed by Commissioner of Education Francis Keppel. It was signed into law on April 11, 1965, less than three months after it was introduced. It ended a long-standing political taboo by providing significant federal aid to public education, initially allotting more than $1 billion to help schools purchase materials and start special education programs to schools with a high concentration of low-income children. The Act also established Head Start, which had originally been started by the Office of Economic Opportunity as an eight-week summer program, as a permanent program.

Higher Education Facilities Act and the Higher Education Act

The Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963, which was signed into law by Johnson a month after he became president, authorized a dramatic increase in college aid within a five-year period and provided better college libraries, 10-20 new graduate centers, several new technical institutes, classrooms for several hundred thousand students, and 25-30 new community colleges each year. 

This major piece of legislation was followed by the Higher Education Act of 1965, signed into United States law on November 8, 1965 at Texas State University. The Act increased federal money given to universities, created scholarships and low-interest loans for students, and established a national Teacher Corps to provide teachers to poverty-stricken areas of the United States. The Act also began a transition from federally-funded institutional assistance to individual student aid. 

The Higher Education Act of 1965 was reauthorized in 1968, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2008. Congress is currently in the process of reauthorizing the Act, which was set to expire at the end of 2013 but was extended through 2015. Before each reauthorization, Congress amends additional programs, changes the language and policies of existing programs, or makes other changes.

Signing Plaque

This signing plaque rests on campus grounds of Texas State University commemorating the Higher Education Act.

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