Contact:
Kellee Edmonds
(202) 478-4662
edmondsk@aascu.org

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2022 –The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) stands in full support of President Biden’s call on Congress to make access to higher education more affordable for students and their families. AASCU members, known as public regional comprehensive colleges and universities, are the backbone of bachelor’s degree attainment among the nation’s largest percentage of students who are low-income, first-generation, and/or of color in the United States.

We enthusiastically support President Biden’s request for Congress to strengthen and increase funding by more than $2,000 toward the maximum Pell Grant. This would represent a significant down payment on the greater goal of doubling the Pell Grant to $13,000. We also encourage Congress to extend all federal student aid to all eligible undocumented students enrolled in public higher education.

AASCU members include more than 150 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and other Minority-serving institutions (MSIs). We join President Biden and urge Congress to significantly increase appropriations for existing HBCUs, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), HSIs, and other MSI institutional grant programs.

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The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is a Washington, D.C.-based higher education association of nearly 400 public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning- and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development. These are institutions Delivering America’s Promise. Visit us at www.staging.aascu.org.