ACE, Associations Send List of Priorities for Higher Education to President-elect Biden
November 20, 2020

ACE, along with 45 other higher education associations, this week sent a summary of the rules and orders that are a priority for the higher education community to the Biden administration’s transition team.

It is expected the new administration will work to reverse a number of Trump-era executive orders, rules, and other policies that impact higher education. How each one is approached depends on what form it orginally took.

For example, Trump’s 2017 executive order rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy implemented under President Obama can be reversed quickly with another executive order from President Biden. Regulations such as the new rule on Title IX—which gives students accused of sexual assault more due-process rights in investigations—that went through the negotiated rulemaking process will be more complicated to revise, and would require a formal regulatory process or legislative action.

Other issues the letter focuses on are rolling back the Trump order killing guidance on the use of diversity in college admissions; a Justice Department lawsuit alleging discrimination against white and Asian students at Yale University; a ban on federal grant recipients from holding diversity training; and an investigation of Princeton University launched after President Chris Eisgruber spoke of institutional racism on campus.

As for international students, the associations call for reversal of a few recent changes by the Trump administration including rules that make it harder for students to receive H-1B visas and proposed limits on how long international students can remain in the country, known as duration of status, among others.

For more details on the Biden-Harris higher education platform, click here. ​