For nearly a century, federally supported research and student aid conducted in partnership with U.S. universities has improved lives and livelihoods through breakthroughs in health, medicine, and technology and by training a highly skilled workforce. That partnership and those advances are facing unprecedented challenges.
A series of federal executive orders and policy changes have raised concerns about whether the U.S. will remain a worldwide leader in curing and treating disease, developing technologies that power our economy, and providing a high-quality education to the next generation of the American workforce.
We need your help. We must act now. We urge you to contact federal leaders to voice your support for protecting federal research funding. Below is some language you can use and adapt to make the case for continued federal support.
Together, we can ensure U.S. higher education remains a source of opportunity and that the research driving our society’s future advances.
Sample language
I’m deeply concerned about the threat of federal budget cuts to national research agencies and federal student aid programs. Such proposals, along with funding “pauses” and early grant terminations, have created so much uncertainty that universities nationwide have enacted hiring freezes, reduced student admissions, and are facing layoffs.
The impacts of these federal funding cuts would not just be limited to universities and their ability to educate and prepare the future workforce. Such dramatic cuts would have profound consequences for the United States, rippling throughout the economy and weakening our nation’s global leadership in science and innovation.
As you begin consideration of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills, I ask for your full support for the federal agencies and programs that enable colleges and universities to carry out their education, research, and public service missions.