Last week presidents and government relations officers of independent, non-profit colleges and universities from around the country met in Washington, DC for the annual meeting of NAICU (National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities), which is the lobbying body for independent higher education.

Each year, the first few days of the conference are spent reviewing the state of the sector and new and pending policies and legislation that affect our institutions. These sessions usually include presentations or panels featuring leadership from the Department of Education, congressional committees, and experts on the issues of the day.

The final day of the conference is Advocacy Day when the membership ascends the Hill to meet with our respective Senators and Representatives, and/or members of their staffs. Ideally, each of us maintains regular communication with the offices and officers who represent us in our nation’s capital, but this day has the benefit of leaders from multiple institutions within a state or district advocating together to reinforce the issues that most affect our campuses and the communities that surround them.

Susquehanna University is fortunate to be represented in the House and Senate by leaders who are strong supporters of our institutions and their missions, but this is still an important opportunity to affirm priorities that benefit our students and our neighbors.

The leading issues this year were the delay in FAFSA, concerns about changes to the overtime rules from the Department of Labor, maintaining support of SEOG (Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants) and Federal Work Study, and the looming deadline for reporting data for the new regulations for Financial Value Transparency.

We, and most NAICU members would be thrilled to share the data for the Financial Value Transparency report because our results are very good. Our concern is the timing. Each institution has to collect and parse data for seven years of graduates at the same time we will be scrambling to process financial aid packages because of the FAFSA delay.

It was good to be with colleagues from across the nation who share a commitment to advocate for our students, and it was even better to share those messages with elected officials who recognize the importance and value of what our institutions do.

N.B. I recently appeared on the inaugural installment of Higher Edification, a podcast sponsored by AICUP and Misericordia University, hosted by MU’s president, Dan Myers.