NEW: Council on Competiveness Releases Renewed Call to Action

The Council on Competitiveness and 50 of its members—including CEOs, presidents, and leaders from business, academia, nonprofits, the nation’s top laboratories, and labor organizations—calls on President Trump and Members of Congress to back A Renewed Call to Action to ignite a new Golden Age of American innovation. The May 22 call outlines a six-point path forward that builds on the council's Competing in the Next Economy report and 2025 State of Competivieness: A New Age of Disruption and Discontinuity supplemental white paper.

ARCS Foundation is a member of the Council.

ARCS Partners Join Call Opposing ‘Undue Government Intrusion’

Nine ARCS partner universities are among the 150 signatories on "A Call for Constructive Engagement," an open letter that opposes "unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education." The presidents of Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, and San Francisco State Universities; the Universities of Hawai‘i, Maryland, San Diego, Virginia, and Washington; and Pomona College signed the letter, along with the leaders of the Association of American Universities, American Association of Colleges and Universities, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Read the letter

Facilities and administrative (F&A) costs include a range of indirect expenses not directly covered by research grants—from janitorial and support staff, to utilities and computing, to workplace safety compliance and service contracts for high-end research equipment.

Watch the video or read a factsheet describing what F&A reimbursements (also known as indirect costs or overhead) are, how they are determined, and why they are important.

"Reducing F&A reimbursements would have a disasterous impact on research institutions' ability to foster technologial innovation, advance medical discoveries, sustain a dynamic American economy, and protect our national security, COGR warns. It maintains the reimbursement process is efficient, based on acutal research costs, and already partially borne by universities, which paid $28 billion from their own funds to support research in 2023, including $6.8 billion for the federal share of F&A costs that wasn't reimbursed. COGR is an association of research universities (including 42 ARCS partner institutions), affiliated medical centers, and independent research institutes. 

American Association of Universities*

"A cut to F&A reimbursements for NIH grants is quite simply a cut to the life-saving medical research that helps countless American families.” Read AAU President Barbara Snyder's complete statement
NOTE: 27 ARCS partner universities are members of AAU.

Association of Public Land Grant Universities*

"This action will slow advances for millions of patients who desperately need critical breakthroughs and imperil the U.S. position as the world leader in biomedical innovation." Read APLU President Mark Becker's complee statement
NOTE: 27 ARCS partner universities are members of APLU.

* AAU and APLU joined with the American Council on Education in legal action contesting NIH cuts to F&A. Read more

American Association for the Advancement of Science

“Science, engineering and medicine are searches for truth, facts, and objectivity. We live in a time when that seems under threat,” observed AAAS Chief Executive Officer Sudip Parikh at the 2025 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston. "Decisions made by all three branches of the U.S. government in the weeks ahead will affect our enterprise for years to come," added Board Chair Joseph Francisco.  Read more or download talking points for expressing support for science and instructions for visiting Congressional representatives.

ALSO: AAAS and the Royal Society's science diplomacy framework Science Diplomacy in an Era of Disruption, addresses increased economic competition, rapid technological advancements, the rise of non-state entities, and other challenges.