"Major research universities spent more than $37 million on federal lobbying efforts in 2025 as the sector was beset by a flurry of policy changes during the first year of Donald Trump's second term. That's up significantly from 2024, when those same institutions spent $28.1 million. Fourth-quarter lobbying expenditures, which were reported by most universities earlier this week, show that spending dropped toward the end of the year after it peaked in the spring."
"The Inside Higher Ed analysis of lobbying expenses focused primary on the American Association of Universities, which is made of 71 research institutions in the U.S. and Canada. Throughout the last year, the representatives of these universities headed to Capitol Hill to fight for research funding and push back against plans in the sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed over the summer and ushered in a new era of higher ed accountability and student loan policy."
Major research universities spent more than $37 million on federal lobbying in 2025, up from $28.1 million in 2024. Most spending concentrated in spring and peaked in the second quarter at $10.7 million as talks over the One Big Beautiful Bill reached their height. Quarterly spending otherwise ranged from $7.9 million to just over $9 million, with fourth-quarter totals undercounted because not all institutions met lobbying disclosure deadlines. American Association of Universities members—71 research institutions—directed lobbying toward research funding and opposing provisions in OBBBA tied to accountability and student loan policy. The University of Phoenix, unaffiliated with AAU, spent $480,000 each quarter, the largest total.
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