Presidents of AAUP, AFT Applaud Build Back Better Act's Higher Education Reforms

Dr. Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University ProfessorsAmerican Association of University Professors (AAUP) President Dr. Irene Mulvey and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten praise the House Education and Labor Committee's higher education provisions in the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act.

Such provisions so far include increasing Pell Grant funding, making community colleges tuition-free, and offering additional support to historically Black colleges and universities.

"The Build Back Better Act represents a historic and long-overdue investment in higher education—as well as a meaningful down payment on the additional changes needed to aid our colleges and universities, and the people who make them run," said Mulvey.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers"Congress should pass this bill immediately—but it should be considered a floor, not a ceiling, for a new era of accessible and affordable higher education that treats faculty and staff with dignity and respect," said Weingarten. 

The American Federation of Teachers is one of the largest teacher's labor unions in the United States with 1.7 million members. The American Association of University Professors is a national organization of professors and academics to advance academic freedom and shared governance in higher education.

"We need a New Deal for higher education, and this is a crucial and necessary first step to get us there," said Weingarten.