APLU Statement on the President’s FY2027 Budget Request

Washington, DC – Association of Public and Land-grant Universities President Waded Cruzado today released the following statement on the Trump administration’s Fiscal Year 2027 President’s Budget Request.

“We applaud the administration’s efforts to shore up the Pell program. At the same time, the nation cannot afford devastating cuts to other student aid programs and federal investment in scientific breakthroughs as proposed in the President’s FY2027 Budget Request.

“APLU strongly commends the administration’s efforts to shore up the Pell program amid a funding shortfall. We call on Congress to follow suit and invest in the Pell Program. But while the Pell Program is the foundation of college access and affordability, shoring up this program should not come at the expense of other vital federal higher education programs. Coupled with institutional efforts to control costs and state investment, these federal programs have contributed to progress on college affordability. More than half of students earning their degree at public four-year universities finish with $0 in student debt. Preserving and shoring up federal student aid programs is critical to continued college affordability for students.

“We’re deeply concerned about the administration’s proposed steep cuts to federal research at the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, USDA, and NASA. Federally funded research saves lives through the development of lifesaving treatments, advances innovation through world-changing inventions, and bolsters U.S. national security through breakthroughs that enhance our troops’ effectiveness. U.S. economic dominance is inextricably tied to the innovations born from federally funded research and gutting federal research investment would devastate American capacity for innovation. We cannot afford to cede scientific and innovation leadership to our global competitors such as China as they grow already robust investment in these areas by tens of billions of dollars a year.

 “Federal investment in federal student aid and scientific research has underwritten decades of U.S. economic leadership. We urge Congress to again reject detrimental cuts to major drivers of American exceptionalism.”