Solidarity protest photo with AFT and AAUP members.

Resources

Across our country, from small college towns to big cities with university hospitals, higher education forms the backbone of communities in every state.  

Science protest photo.

In community colleges, technical schools, state colleges, and research universities, higher education workers maintain campuses, feed students, teach courses, undertake research, care for patients, and do so much more.

Colleges and universities are places for learning, training, and discovery. They are economic engines of their local communities, propelling students to success, offering good jobs, and providing opportunities for all to participate  in civic life. As research hubs, they develop vital solutions to Americans’ greatest challenges. 

Our country’s higher education institutions should serve students, workers, and the communities they anchor. But the Trump administration and MAGA extremists in state governments are accelerating attacks on our colleges and universities and undermining their ability to serve our students and communities. These harmful efforts will impact not only our members but also the students and communities we serve.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) are working with allies in higher education and the labor movement to defend and advance:

  • Higher education that is accessible and affordable for all who want it. 

  • The freedom to teach, to learn, to conduct research, to speak out on issues of the day, and to assemble in the organizations of our choice.

  • Colleges and universities that are well positioned to create opportunity for students, workers, and communities. 

  • Sufficient funding to provide high quality education and sustainable working conditions.