October 22, 2021
Currently, the United States Congress is negotiating the pending budget Reconciliation package and the contents of the Build Back Better Act, which was approved by the House Budget Committee and is yet to go up for vote in Congress. Support for students and higher education funding is a key tenant in the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Agenda and the proposed Bill. It is possible that the amount of funding provided for student aid and higher education will be significantly reduced during negotiations.
The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges along with over 60 organizations signed on to a letter written by the American Council on Education urging Congress to maintain the levels of funding for student aid and higher education initiatives in the Build Back Better Bill, as approved by the House Budget Committee. The funding will be critical to repairing the economic damage of the pandemic, improving economic and educational opportunity, and addressing long-standing racial disparities in higher education.
In the letter, supporters wrote:
“Higher education must be included in legislation intended to improve our nation’s human infrastructure. Postsecondary education is inextricably linked to economic opportunity and prosperity. The pandemic greatly widened the divide between those with postsecondary skills and education and those without. Federal investment in student aid and higher education are a proven pathway to economic mobility and it is essential to repairing the economic damage done by the pandemic and improving the lives of all Americans.”
To read the letter, click here.
