NAICU Celebrates Launch of the Congressional Independent Colleges Caucus

During its 2017 Annual Meeting, several hundred NAICU members gathered on Capitol Hill with more than two dozen Members of Congress to celebrate the launch of the Congressional Independent Colleges Caucus. 

Created by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA), the Congressional Independent Colleges Caucus serves as a forum to celebrate the diversity found within the nation’s private, nonprofit higher education community, and to educate Members of Congress on the issues facing independent colleges and universities. As of February 1, 2017, the caucus enjoys broad bipartisan support with 50 members from the House of Representatives and two members from the Senate, and is growing every week. 

Reps. Goodlatte and Capuano continue to actively recruit additional members to join the caucus.  In a Dear Colleague letter sent in January, they wrote “Independent colleges and universities across the United States provide great benefit to the students they serve and the communities in which they reside.  A large part of that benefit comes from the diversity found within the private, nonprofit postsecondary education sector.  It is important that we recognize the value in this diversity and celebrate it, not letting it be taken for granted and lost for lack of attention.”