Washington -- The Republican leaders of the education committee in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation on Wednesday night to extend the Higher Education Act for the next six years.

The bill, known as the College Access and Opportunity Act, would make significant changes in the federal student-loan programs. It would, for example, raise the amount of money that first- and second-year students may borrow from the loan programs, and would reduce the origination fees that students must pay to obtain their loans.

To help offset the costs of those proposals, the lawmakers included a controversial provision designed to diminish the appeal of the federal loan-consolidation program, which allows borrowers to combine and refinance their student loans (The Chronicle, May 7).

In introducing the bill, Rep. John A. Boehner, the Ohio Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said the billions of dollars that the government provides in subsidies each year to keep the costs of consolidated, fixed-rate loans cheaper for college graduates would be better spent providing more benefits to current and future students.

"Millions of low- and middle-income students today face the possibility of being denied access to a higher education," said Mr. Boehner. "These students and their families should be first in line when federal higher-education aid is increased. The College Access and Opportunity Act is fiscally responsible legislation that will restore fairness and expand access for incoming low- and middle-income students -- the very students the Higher Education Act was created to serve."

But on Wednesday night, the panel's Democratic leaders expressed opposition to the bill. They said that a fixed rate on consolidation loans had helped make repayment more manageable each year for hundreds of thousands of borrowers who are buried in debt. The change to a variable rate, they said, could more than double the interest paid by borrowers over the life of their loans (The Chronicle, March 26).

"At a time when college costs are skyrocketing, Republicans have introduced legislation which will drive up the price of college by thousands of dollars for low- and middle-income students," said Rep. Dale E. Kildee of Michigan. "With more and more families struggling to pay for college, this legislation represents the wrong priorities at the wrong time."

Mr. Boehner plans to hold a hearing on the legislation next week. Soon afterward, the House panel's subcommittee on higher education will take up the bill. Meanwhile, it is unclear whether a Senate version of the bill will be introduced this year.