Presidents’ open immigration letter. On Tuesday, university presidents from Arizona State University, Cornell University and Miami Dade College sent a letter to the leadership of more than 1,200 institutions of higher education, calling on them to encourage immigration reform. The letter asked schools to hold events highlighting immigration reform as essential to innovation. The letter says highly skilled graduates are being forced to leave America and undocumented potential students are kept out of higher education. The universities reported that they hope to have a coordinated voice that will reach lawmakers.
2012 higher education report. On Wednesday, the State Higher Education Executive Officers released the results of the 2012 State Higher Education Finance study. The study showed that college enrollment leveled off between 2011 and 2012, after an extended period of growth. It also showed that colleges and universities saw a 9% decline in per-student state appropriations between 2011 and 2012. Colleges and universities are attempting to make up the difference through tuition increase, according to the report, with tuition revenue as a share of general operating revenues increasing.
As a member of New England Council, we publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington. This edition is drawn from the Council’s Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, of March 11, 2013.
Founded in 1925, the New England Council is a nonpartisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the New England region. The Council’s mission is to identify and support federal public policies and articulate the voice of its membership regionally and nationally on important issues facing New England. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.
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