Students are hosting a press conference with Connecticut senators and lobbying against a Republican budget proposal that could significantly increase taxes on universities’ endowments.

Baala Shakya & Henry Liu

5:39 pm, Jun 11, 2025

Staff Reporters

Baala Shakya, Photography Editor

Yale students will gather at the United States Capitol on Thursday to advocate against changes to federal higher education policy that they believe could devastate Yale’s financial aid and research funding.

The coalition of students from multiple colleges — which calls itself “Fight for Higher Education” — will hold an “advocacy day in defense of higher education” in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. Programming includes a rally and press conference with Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, which 25 student-advocates registered to attend. 

Multiple student organizers told the News that the coalition has received financial support from Yale College for travel costs, and coaching from the University’s federal relations office. The News could not independently confirm University involvement with the student coalition.

“There is a general consensus among young people that there is something about this moment that is urgent and profoundly unsettling, and yet, despite the urgency that we feel, we have failed to follow through and act on that urgency,” Conor Webb ’28, an organizer of the advocacy effort, told the News.

Fight for Higher Education, which does not associate itself with any singular college, organized the advocacy day in Washington in response to a recent budget proposal passed by the House of Representatives in May that would raise the tax on Yale’s endowment from 1.4 to 21 percent, narrow eligibility for Pell Grants, eliminate subsidized student loans and impose a lifetime cap on student borrowing.  

The coalition bills itself as nonpartisan, though no Republican officials are slated to be involved in the Thursday rally. At least one registered Republican student will be in attendance, Zach Pan ’27, one of the organizers, told the News. 

Four student organizers told the News that Yale College is providing reimbursements for travel expenses to and from Washington for Yale students participating in Thursday’s rally. Pan told the News that Fight for Higher Education was formed specifically to obtain funding for students separate from funds already allocated to participating student organizations.

An outside donor, who organizers refused to name, is covering the travel costs for students from other schools. Many students traveling to D.C. will be housed by volunteers who live in the area, the organizers said.

Several student groups, including the Yale College Democrats, the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, the Yale Student Environmental Coalition and the Yale First-Generation Low-Income Advocacy Movement, have joined the coalition and plan to send members to Thursday’s event. Students from Southern Connecticut State University, Hudson Valley Community College, Macalester College and West Virginia University will also join the coalition in Washington, Pan said.

In addition to the press conference and rally, the coalition is coordinating meetings with senators from swing states, including Republican Senator David McCormick of Pennsylvania, per Pan.

Pan said that Yale’s Office of Federal and State Relations has provided coaching and logistical support to students preparing to meet with their senators about the budget proposal bill which includes the tax hike on universities’ endowment gains. The News could not verify the Yale office’s involvement.

Yale has publicly signaled its opposition to the budget proposal, posting on social media to encourage community members to “tell Congress to protect discovery and opportunity” and “speak up for the future.” In one Instagram post, Yale warned that the proposal could jeopardize the University’s ability to remain debt-free for 85 percent of undergraduates and tuition-free for many middle-class families — arguments that Fight for Higher Education has echoed in their digital campaign.

University President Maurie McInnis sounded the alarm to members of the Yale community when the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill in May, urging members of the Yale community to contact their senators and share a set of talking points that emphasize the potentially harmful impacts of the bill on universities.

Emi Glass ’26, co-president of the Yale First-Generation Low-Income Advocacy Movement, or YFAM, told the News that after McInnis stated how the endowment tax would severely affect financial aid funding, she “stepped in to support” lobbying efforts against the bill.

“Given the fact that myself and many of the people involved in YFAM would definitely not be able to attend Yale if they didn’t receive very generous financial aid from Yale, it was really concerning to all of us,” Glass said.

Glass plans to travel to Washington on Thursday to join the coalition of students in advocating against the budget bill. She plans to meet with policymakers and an education staffer for Jon Husted, her Ohio senator, she told the News.

Jake Siesel ’27, co-president of the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, told the News that he too will attend the rally in Washington because the Republican budget proposal is “antithetical” to YUPP’s commitment to equal justice.

“If enacted, the bill would amount to the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in American history,” Siesel said. “Our organization stands in solidarity with this advocacy effort and will dedicate all available resources to support it.”

The current 1.4 percent tax on the endowments of most private colleges was signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017.