BY KELLY HAND

We already knew from the Trump administration’s initial “skinny” budget proposal, released in March, that higher education would be on the chopping block. The fleshed-out budget proposal released on May 22 details cuts that would have a devastating impact on student aid, the arts and humanities, scientific research, and international education.

Following up on our March statement opposing the initial budget proposal, the AAUP released a follow-up statement last Friday reiterating our opposition to a budget that aims to eliminate important student loan and loan-forgiveness programs, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts and to slash funding for the Federal Work-Study Program, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Funding, and the Fulbright Scholar Program.

The new May–June issue of Academe, printed prior to the May budget release, includes an opinion essay by AAUP president Rudy Fichtenbaum about the initial budget proposal. He reminds us of the importance of working with our allies to pressure Congress to reject a budget that threatens to do such severe damage to higher education.

If you have not already signed our open letter calling on Congress to protect student access to higher education; the sciences, arts, and humanities; and international and foreign-language education, please sign below. We plan to deliver the letter to lawmakers on Capitol Hill during our annual lobbying day on June 15.