Economic and Workforce Development for Rural Institutions
- Provide appropriations for the Rural Development Grants for Rural Colleges and Universities program. These grants encourage partnerships between rural colleges and universities and local entities that promote greater access to college for rural high school students, increase the number of adults in rural communities with a bachelor’s degree or higher, enhance training opportunities, and stimulate technological innovation.
- Support continued funding for rural broadband enhancements that provide greater access to postsecondary education.
Urban Institutions
- Support efforts to reauthorize, authorize, and fund programs that encourage research and partnerships between urban and metropolitan anchor institutions and their communities. These efforts promote economic and workforce development, community revitalization, teacher recruitment, and greater access to college for urban high school students.
STEM Research and Workforce Preparation
- Recognize the contributions of each higher education sector in strengthening STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. The entire community’s resources must be tapped when creating, funding, and implementing STEM programs that educate future scientists, engineers, and mathematicians.
- Create research opportunities for students studying in the STEM fields within all sectors of higher education.
- Support and improve basic and applied scientific research and education activities for undergraduate programs to complement established graduate and research programming.
- Advocate for programs that recruit traditionally underrepresented populations, such as students of color, low-income students, and women, into STEM fields and provide them with support.
- Support the creation of institutional incentives for graduate students in fields associated with high-need jobs identified by state workforce service agencies.
Federal Research and Development
- Continue support for undergraduate research and mentoring in STEM fields and for STEM pipeline programs promoting P–20 partnerships and articulation agreements.
- Support programs that meaningfully engage students in applied research that addresses the nation’s innovation plans for health care, energy, and national security.
- Support technology transfer and workforce training programs that link higher education institutions with the manufacturing sector and incentivize corporate and private sector investment in these partnerships.
- Fund the development and renovation of laboratory facilities and support equipment acquisition that will promote innovative and collaborative scientific and technical research at all higher education institutions.
Sustainability and Energy Efficiency
- Expand federal efforts to support higher education institutions in improving efficiency in the physical plant, campus transportation, and other institutional operations.
- Advocate for funding at the U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies that support university research in sustainability, renewable energy, and green technology.
- Support efforts to mitigate the impact climate change is having on institutions, students, and communities.