"ACE congratulates Joe Biden on his election as the nation’s 46th president. I join more than 4,000 college and university presidents and other higher education leaders across the country in wishing President-elect Biden well as he prepares to embark on his term in January and address the many challenges facing our nation at home and abroad during these difficult times.
The entire higher education community will work with the Biden administration on key issues such as expanding equitable access to educational opportunity, increasing levels of attainment, and supporting cutting-edge research and innovation. The diversity of higher education also is strongly represented in the incoming administration. Not only is Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the first graduate of a historically Black college to be elected on a national ticket, but Jill Biden has had a long career as a community college professor.
We in higher education are committed to engaging with the administration and new Congress to confront a daunting list of challenges, from the pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and left millions others sickened and struggling financially, to the need to strengthen our international alliances and preserve peace and prosperity around the globe, to the national reckoning over race and the desire to form a more perfect union.
Our hope is that Congress will return to Washington next week and finalize and approve a comprehensive COVID relief package that includes at least $120 billion in financial assistance for students and colleges and universities facing an existential crisis. If that does not occur, we hope that the Biden administration and the new Congress will make doing so the top priority in January."