Several research universities ratcheted up spending on lobbying last year.
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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. While college presidents have been criticized for failing to push back publicly on Trump administration initiatives seen as damaging to higher education and/or the social fabric, lobbying numbers show that institutions have been heavily engaged behind the scenes.
The Inside Higher Ed analysis of lobbying expenses focused primary on the Association of American Universities, which is made up 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.
AAU members spent the most in the second quarter of 2025 at $10.7 million, when talks over OBBBA were at their peak. In the other quarters, spending ranged from $7.9 million to just over $9 million. However, data for the fourth quarter of the year is an undercount, as not all universities complied with federal lobbying disclosure deadlines, which required them to submit reports on such activities and expenditures by Tuesday.
Although the numbers only reflect spending by AAU members, the Inside Higher Ed review indicates research institutions were among the highest spenders last year. The one exception was the University of Phoenix, which is not part of AAU.
In terms of total spending, the University of Phoenix racked up the highest lobbying costs, spending $480,000 in each quarter for a total of $1.9 million. Disclosure forms show Phoenix lobbied on OBBBA and student veteran benefits and engaged in “general discussions covering change of control, and related regulatory requirements.” (Phoenix filed for an initial public offering last year after a sale to the University of Idaho fell through amid skepticism from state lawmakers over acquiring the for-profit college.)
Among AAU members, the University of Florida emerged as the top spender, a fact that went unnoticed last year because UF did not comply with federal lobbying disclosure deadlines and filed reports late for each quarter. For example, UF filed its Q1 report for 2025 on May 29, well past the April 20 deadline. UF officials posted Q4 results Thursday morning, two days after the deadline, and one day after Inside Higher Ed reached out to inquire about previously missed filing deadlines.
UF officials did not respond to a request for comment.
The top spenders engaged on a wide range of issues, according to details in lobbying disclosures. (The list does not include systems that lobby on behalf of individual members.)
UF lobbying reports show the university engaged Congress on topics such as research funding, artificial intelligence, federal spending bills, student visas, international education programs, graduate student loans, the endowment excise tax and cybersecurity, among other issues.
Most other universities that ranked in the top 10 lobbied on the same or related issues, often lobbying around specific legislation, such as OBBBA. A rare few, such as Johns Hopkins University, took on highly charged topics such as gender-affirming care and efforts to expand gun access.
While some universities sustained a steady lobbying effort throughout the year, maintaining similar spending levels across each quarter, others made a strong push at the end of 2025, such as the University of Pennsylvania, which doubled spending.
In a fourth-quarter push, most institutions focused on many of the same issues as they had in the earlier part of the year. However, in the last two quarters, especially Q4, some top spenders increased lobbying efforts around graduate medical education and nursing, back-room conversations that coincided with federal changes to that will cap federal loans for graduate and professional programs.
