H.R. 151 (109^th): Higher Education Affordability Resource Act

1/4/2005--Introduced.

Higher Education Affordability Resource Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to include coverage of other qualified higher education expenses under the HOPE scholarship tax credit. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish a program of student loan forgiveness for: (1) highly qualified teachers in low-income communities; (2) highly qualified teachers of mathematics, science, and bilingual and special education; (3) nurses who serve low-income or needy communities in a clinical setting or as members of the nursing faculty at an accredited school of nursing; (4) child welfare workers with a degree in social work or a related field with a focus on serving children and families in public or private child welfare services; and (5) firefighters, police officers, or emergency medical technicians (first responders) who serve low-income communities. Directs the Secretary of Education, without case-by-case consideration, to allow a student to receive two Pell grants during a single award year under certain conditions. Excludes from consideration as student assets, for purposes of HEA student financial needs analysis, qualified education benefits from prepayment or savings plans that meet certain IRC requirements. Requires lenders to provide certain student loan borrowers with special transition assistance plans at specified interest rates. Establishes a partnership grant program to support academic transfer credits, to help students complete bachelor's degrees, through developing and implementing articulation and guaranteed transfer agreements between institutions of higher education. Prohibits an eligible institution from refusing to certify, or reduce the amount certified for, a loan under the part B Federal Family Education Loan Program in order to require the student to borrow a loan under the part D Federal Perkins Loans program if the student has remaining loan eligibility under part B.