Universities expect a shifting tide in higher education policy when President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated in January. But what kinds of reforms should Biden prioritize to ensure equity and access amid an ongoing pandemic? Which policies could achieve bipartisan support, and which could flounder in what might be a Republican-majority Senate?
These policy concerns dominated the second day of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) annual conference, which again gathered university leaders online for a packed afternoon on Tuesday.
Keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro – chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a member of the House Education and Labor Committee – expressed enthusiasm for working with the future president on higher education policy, especially when it comes to closing the achievement gap for Hispanic students and supporting minority serving institutions.
“These are issues the committee and I are excited to work on with the new president,” he said. “It’s time that we support students in their path towards college. We cannot allow for college to continue to be unaffordable for so many, particularly in what is a very difficult economic time for millions in our country during this pandemic.”
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, also a keynote speaker, expressed hope for bipartisan efforts on higher education policy as a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
“It is my hope that we will continue to seize more chances to get important bipartisan work done together in this next phase,” he said, emphasizing “student success” and “technology-based strategies for personalized learning” as priorities.
Under Biden, experts foresee a changing landscape for public universities.
