APLU In The News

In more normal political times, higher education advocates, experts and lobbyists might be expecting to see progress on a number of issues once Congress returns from its August recess. They’d be optimistic, for starters, about the prospects for doubling the maximum Pell Grant award for students, expanding Pell to cover short-term programs like job training…

A flat budget isn’t something that scientists typically welcome. But for the U.S. research community, that’s the best-case scenario in the short run as Congress returns this month from its summer recess and tries to agree on spending levels for the 2024 fiscal year that begins on 1 October. The government could shut down if…

When the CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law last August, colleges and universities saw an opportunity for the government to make a transformative investment in science and innovation. The ambitious legislation promised to bring tens of billions of dollars in new research money to American colleges and universities through federal science agencies, which…

Raised on welfare by his grandmother, Joseph Sais relied so much on food stamps as a college student that he thought about quitting school when his eligibility was revoked. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sais said, he missed an “important letter” and temporarily lost his eligibility in SNAP, the foundational anti-poverty program commonly…

The latest budget proposal from House Republicans would eliminate funding for 60 programs including Federal Work-Study—cuts that have left higher education groups concerned.

Although federal spending on domestic programs will be flat in the upcoming fiscal year, advocates and higher education lobbyists say there’s still a chance to secure more money to increase the maximum Pell Grant award and to fund the Office of Federal Student Aid, among other priorities. 

The United States is heading toward defaulting on its debt—a move that could lead to “economic calamity” unless Congress acts soon, experts and lobbyists warn. Negotiations to avert a default are ongoing. “We’ve experienced many federal government shutdowns; we’ve never experienced a default,” said Craig Lindwarm, vice president of governmental affairs at the Association of…

President Biden on Monday nominated cancer surgeon Monica M. Bertagnolli to be head of the National Institutes of Health, seeking to fill the leadership role atop the $46 billion health agency.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in its 2023 farm bill primer, estimates baseline spending for ag research will take up $1.3 billion of the total $709 billion farm bill dollars. House and Senate ag committees received a letter on Monday from 340 ag groups and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), urging legislators…