President Obama's re-election Nov. 6 set off celebrations across campus, as students screamed, hugged and shed their clothes to streak across the Main Green. But a week later, it remains unclear how a second Obama term will affect private universities like Brown.
During the seven-month presidential campaign, both Obama and Republican Candidate Mitt Romney spoke on issues related to higher education such as college affordability, research funding and immigration reform.
"President Obama has had a strong understanding of our issues and has really made them a part of his agenda," said Barry Toiv, vice president for public affairs at the Association of American Universities.
Still, the federal government faces fiscal challenges that could make it more difficult to fund Obama's vision for an economy fueled by innovation and research, as well as his desire to make higher education more accessible.
Facing finances
The looming fiscal cliff - more than $500 billion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts slated to go into effect Jan. 1, 2013 - and its potential impact on how much federal money Brown receives for research and financial aid is of particular concern to University administrators.
As part of a mandatory spending reduction policy Congress approved last year, the government's discretionary spending will automatically be cut by 8.2 percent Jan. 1 unless Congress takes action before then.
These cuts would affect the National Institutes of Health - the University's largest source of research funding - as well as the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, said Amy Carroll, director of government relations and community affairs. If the cuts take place, the University stands to lose between $13 million and $15 million in research funding, The Herald previously reported.
The University also receives $2.3 million in financial aid and work-study funds from the federal government, an amount set to shrink if the U.S. falls off the fiscal cliff.
Pell Grants, which support more than 900 Brown students and are funded through both mandatory and discretionary spending, are protected from the budget cuts for fiscal year 2013 but may face cuts in 2014, Carroll said.
Last summer, around 150 university presidents, including President Christina Paxson, sent a letter to Obama and congressional leaders, urging them to take a balanced approach as they decide how to resolve the fiscal crisis, Carroll said.
"Sequestration is an undiscerning and blunt budget tool that would substantially harm our nation's future by blindly slashing valuable investments in education and scientific research," the letter reads. It urges Congress to consider tax reform, including cutting some entitlement programs, rather than solely reducing discretionary spending.
Obama "has a solid appreciation for the value of the research that U.S. research universities conduct," Toiv said. "He understands where that fits into the U.S. innovation system and has sought to keep it strong." Though there has always been bipartisan support for research, Obama's consistent emphasis on its importance benefits universities, he added.
Kenneth Wong, professor and chair of the University's education department, echoed Toiv's cautious optimism. Obama will try to defend research funding, Wong said, but the federal budget is a "politically divisive" issue.
"Obama wants to move forward with his goals of global competitiveness, but there is the congressional politics that he has to deal with. There lies some very challenging uncertainty," Wong said.
Most experts anticipate that Congress will reach a deal to "temporarily avoid a fiscal meltdown," Carroll said. Such a move may involve making some budget cuts and letting some tax cuts expire, or it may involve putting off all decisions, she said.
Carroll said she has spoken with members of Congress, but they "just don't know" what will happen.
"There are so many different scenarios," she said.
Beyond the cliff
Though experts agreed that the handling of the fiscal cliff is currently the most pressing congressional concern, other political decisions will also influence universities like Brown, they said. The accessibility and affordability of higher education, immigration reform, promoting teaching and science and graduate student unionization could all come under national scrutiny in Obama's next term.
In his next term, Obama will continue to promote universities' accessibility and affordability, Wong said.
Obama often speaks of the increasing costs of college and encourages universities like Brown to halve the rates of their tuition increases, Wong said. Brown's tuition has increased between 3.5 and 4.5 percent per year for the past three years, The Herald previously reported.
But Carroll said Obama has yet to release the details of his plans to slow tuition increases. "We'll react to them when we see them," she said.
Addressing immigration reform and providing more opportunities to the children of undocumented immigrants have always been of interest to Obama, said Maria Ferguson, executive director of the Center on Education Policy at George Washington University. "I think that we're going to see continued forward movement on that," she said.
Paxson supports an initiative led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that would enable more foreigners with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to receive green cards, Carroll said.
Wong added that Obama has also emphasized the need for more top graduates to enter teaching, particularly in STEM fields. If Obama can create more teacher education and loan forgiveness programs, even more Brown graduates may decide to teach after graduation, Wong said. In the class of 2011, 12 percent of students applied to join Teach for America - a program that seeks to match college graduates with low-performing schools - and 43 students ultimately joined, The Herald previously reported.
Obama will also need to appoint someone to fill a seat on the National Labor Relations Board after a current member's term expires in December, Carroll said. Democrats usually appoint pro-union members, she said. If Obama does so, the NLRB would be more likely to overturn a 2004 ruling that prohibited graduate student unionization, which is currently being challenged by graduate students at New York University. Though a decision in favor of NYU graduate students could pave the way for more student unions, it would not automatically enable Brown graduate students to unionize as well, Carroll said.
Peter Weber, professor of chemistry and dean of the graduate school, testified in a Sept. 12 House of Representatives hearing against such a policy. "In private universities such as Brown, engaging in collective bargaining about issues at the core of the academic curriculum would wreak havoc with academic freedom," he said in his statement.
Though it is unclear how exactly policies created by Obama and Congress will have an impact on institutions like Brown over the next four years, Carroll, Wong and Toiv all characterized Obama as an education-focused president.
"He has made education a priority and says he will continue to do so," Carroll said.
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