Policy & Advocacy

Latest Comments and Letters

	AERA joined 28 scholarly and professional societies representing more than 165,000 individual members and more than 170 colleges and universities, on a comment letter urging the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to withdraw proposed changes to the System for Award Management (SAM) certification requirements for applicants and recipients of federal financial assistance. (March 30, 2026)
	AERA joined the American Statistical Association and 26 organizations on a letter urging House and Senate appropriators to include FY 2027 language exempting federal statistical agency staff from Schedule Policy/Career classification. AERA had previously raised this concern in comments on a draft rule proposed by the Office of Personnel Management in June 2025. (March 2, 2026)
	AERA submitted comments to the Department of Education Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Reimagining and Improving Student Education, which would update regulations around student loans. AERA urged the Department to include all graduate degrees in education, including Ph.D. degrees in education and Ed.D. degrees, under the definition of “professional degree” linked to the “professional student” definition. (March 2, 2026)
	AERA joined 130 organizations on a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calling on the Department to immediately halt the restructuring and effective dismantlement of the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). (February 23, 2026)
	AERA provided comments on the draft FY 2026-2030 National Science Foundation (NSF) Strategic plan, noting the need for continued investment in basic research – including education research and the social and behavioral sciences – and to leverage STEM education research to meet the agency’s mission and priorities. (January 27, 2026)
	AERA responded to questions on the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate Workforce Development Roadmap RFI, noting the need for partnerships with the education sector and collaboration with the NSF STEM Education Directorate for advancing the goals of the roadmap to develop and scale evidence-based curriculum and leverage education research findings. (January 15, 2026)
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