Senior members of Student Government went to Washington D.C. to advocate for higher education and came back feeling confident in the connections and relationships formed over their four day trip.
SG President John Woodard said the students took the trip with four goals in mind: reauthorize the Higher Education Act, discuss solutions to reduce rising education costs, support Pell Grant funding and examine ways to establish a federal matching program for higher education.
Woodard’s Chief of Staff Gerard Zimmerman said he enjoyed getting to briefly see the nation’s capital and advocating for students on the hill.
“Everything we went for was tailored around federal funding,” Zimmerman said.
The students not only met with policy makers from several Louisiana legislators’ staff but also with members from Alabama, Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina and Vice-President Joe Biden’s domestic policy adviser with other SEC students.
Woodard said he’s taken trips to Washington D.C. before, but this trip was different. Instead of briefly meeting with legislators and taking a quick picture like he had before, discussions went in depth about the details of higher education policy.
The students spent 30 to 45 minutes with legislative assistants, expressing their opinions and learning from the policy makers. Woodard said it was more a discussion about policy than a “fluff” trip.
The students’ messages aligned with the University’s stance on several federal issues, Zimmerman said.
“A lot of what we are pushing is what President Alexander pushes,” Zimmerman said.
In an economic climate where college tuition and fees are rising and state appropriations are declining, Woodard said the students worked with legislative assistants to develop ways to create federal incentives for states to invest in higher education.
Zimmerman said the students put a particular push on the Higher Education Reauthorization in their talks with policy advisors. The act regulates how federal dollars are given to students and colleges.
Woodard said because this is an election year, the legislation might not by prioritized, but he told lawmakers students at the University need the funding.
The SG members also discussed the ways for students to get the most accurate and up-to-date information about financially sound college choices.
The White House’s College Scorecard ranks universities on various criteria like tuition, graduation rates, graduates’ earnings and student debt and loan rates, but some legislators feel uncomfortable with the federal government ranking universities.
Woodard said discussions about the scorecard included ideas for the possibility of third party rankings.
“Everything we went for was tailored around federal funding.”