By Rob Marus
When the House of Representatives managed to pass its FY26 budget reconciliation package (on a narrow party-line vote of 215-214) on May 22, it included several provisions that would harm students and universities – and would be particularly harmful for research funding and student financial aid. The bill’s passage came after President Trump met with holdouts among House Republicans.
AAU President Barbara R. Snyder sent a letter before the vote to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), copying all House members, outlining AAU’s significant concerns with multiple provisions in the bill. These included risk-sharing measures that would require colleges and universities to pay for student-loan defaults, changes to eligibility requirements for Pell grants, significant expansions of endowment taxes and other tax increases, as well as other provisions. “AAU opposes the reconciliation bill because it will fail to achieve its stated goal of making college more accessible and affordable for all students, imposes an unfair endowment tax on certain private colleges and universities, and stifles collaborations with the private sector in critical research areas,” she wrote.
AAU also signed on to a separate letter about the bill to House leaders; that letter was led by the American Council on Education and joined by multiple higher-ed associations.
The legislation now moves to the Senate, where AAU is sharing our concerns with key committee leaders and members as they move to develop their own version of the reconciliation bill. The fate of the package in the Senate is more complicated, including which of the House provisions will be removed pursuant to that chamber’s “Byrd rule.” GOP leadership in the Senate has set July 4 as the tentative goal for passing their version of the package.
Rob Marus is deputy vice president for communications at AAU.