Rebuilding Government-Higher Education Relations

Our Focus

The 2023-24 academic year was arguably the lowest point in American history for relations between higher education institutions and the U.S. Congress.  The breakdown, when it came, was not surprising.  It had been long in the making, with discernible differences developing between higher education institutions and the legislature on issues like college costs, taxing endowments, international student immigration, research security, collegiate athletics, COVID policies, affirmative action, and many others over years.  But congressional hearings featuring university presidents testifying about their campus’ response to Hamas’ attacks on Israel and ensuing campus protests were a disaster, especially for private, elite universities.  Congressional leaders delighted at the resignations of the presidents of Penn and Harvard following the first hearing in December 2023.  The ongoing inquiries into campus antisemitism suggest Congress fundamentally distrusts higher education institutions even as they play critical roles in research and innovation, civic life in America, economic growth in the towns and cities in which they operate, and America’s global reputation, not to mention the fundamental role they play in educating and skilling close to 20 million people annually. 

Academic studies of the relationship between the U.S. government and higher education have been considered through discrete lenses.  There are studies devoted to the creation of land-grant universities through the 1862 Morrill Act and subsequent laws.   There have been studies of the U.S. government’s investment in university-based research and development during World War II and into the Cold War. There has also been much work on the role of the federal government in funding students and the impact on college and university finances. And much academic work has been done to quantify the impact of universities on urban life and especially as drivers of economic and workforce development.