View members

AASCU Legislative Action and Policy Center

Your source for federal legislation affecting higher education, advocacy efforts, state policy resources, and Congressional directory information. Read more

Letter to presidential candidates by the leadership of the six presidential associations suggests ways a new administration can work with higher education.

Policy Matters: Top 10 State Policy Issues for Higher Education in 2009


Policy MattersPresented here are the top 10 issues most likely to affect public higher education across the 50 states in 2009, in the view of the state policy analysis and research staff at AASCU. While numerous topics shape state higher education policy, each affecting the issues of affordability and quality, our focus is on the overarching issue of college access. Read more   |   Download PDF


Latest in the Perspectives Series

"When Johnny [or Janelle] Comes Marching Home”: National, State and Institutional Efforts in Support of Veterans’ Education.

PerspectivesProvides an overview of veterans’ education issues on the national, state, and institutional level as well as highlights examples of innovative campus-based and organizational efforts to assist veterans and their families in utilizing GI Bill benefits and making the transition from combat to campus.


Public Policy Agenda 2008

AASCU’s Public Policy Agenda is rooted in an uncompromising commitment to opportunity for the nation’s students and expressed through the following core principles: Higher education is a common good that provides significant benefits to individuals and society as a whole. While the personal gains from higher education are widely acknowledged, the societal benefits are even more significant and lasting, thus warranting continued public investment. These include tangible returns through economic productivity and increased tax revenues, but even more fundamentally, through the promotion of an enlightened citizenry and greater social cohesion.


Top Ten Things to Like About the New Higher Education Reauthorization Bill

The recently passed higher education reauthorization bill is not perfect. There is far too much governmental regulation which results in excessive reporting requirements for all campuses, and several new provisions have increased the potential for abuse by private lenders. We would be remiss, as well, were we not to say that other concerns may surface as we work through the 1158 pages of this legislation. (Yes, that’s correct: 1158 pages.)

Cost Containment: A Survey of Current Practices at America’s State Colleges and Universities

Member institutions of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities are witnessing measurable success in identifying and implementing cost containment strategies in order to reduce operating costs.  Nearly all survey respondents at AASCU institutions place high importance on cost containment, with most having implemented cost control strategies in multiple operational areas. As a result, a majority of the state colleges and universities participating in this study indicated sufficient satisfaction with their cost containment efforts. Institutions rely more on support and business functions in their cost control efforts than on core academic functions. Energy management and consortium purchasing are the two most common areas of focus for cost containment.