Letters

Six coalitions joined a letter urging House and Senate Appropriations Committees to provide the highest possible FY24 302(b) allocation for the CJS Appropriations Subcommittee.

AAU sent a letter urging the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to prioritize investments in higher education, scientific research, and student aid in FY24 302(b) discretionary spending allocations.

AAU joined the American Council on Education (ACE) and 18 other higher education organizations in endorsing the Tax-Free Pell Grant Act (H.R. 3000), which “would repeal the taxability of Pell Grants and help hundreds of thousands of low-income Pell Grant recipients access the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC).”

The Coalition for National Security Research, of which AAU is a member, sent a letter to leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense urging increases in FY24 to the Department of Defense’s science and technology program.

AAU joined APLU and four other associations in sending a letter to the Deputy Chief Operations Officer in the Office of Science and Technology Policy requesting listening sessions on NSPM-33 Research Security Programs Standards. The letter recommends that "OSTP conduct listening sessions with stakeholders, as soon as feasible, to engage specific officials within the academic research community who have expertise on key areas outlined in the draft NSPM-33 research security programs standard requirements."

AAU signed onto a Student Aid Alliance (SAA) letter, for which AAU is a member of the Steering Committee, along with 34 other members, to urge Congress to support increases in several impactful postsecondary education programs for the FY24 budget such as an increase in the maximum Pell Grant to $13,000 per student.

AAU joined ACE and 83 other higher education organizations in a comment letter to the Department of Education’s Feb. 15 Dear Colleague Letter, “Requirements and Responsibilities for Third-Party Servicers and Institutions.”

House members signed DCL in support of $11.3 billion for NSF in FY24 CJS Appropriations bill.

AAU, ACE, and 7 other higher education associations sent a comment letter expressing strong support for the Department of Education’s proposal to rescind a portion of its 2020 “free inquiry rule” related to religious student organizations at public colleges and universities.

The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Coalition, which includes AAU, sent a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees requesting no less than $500 million for AFRI in FY24.