Major research universities continue to spend heavily on federal lobbying.
An Inside Higher Ed analysis of lobbying expenses among members of the Association of American Universities shows that at least $8.5 million flowed toward such efforts in the first quarter of 2026. Universities focused on a range of issues, including federal research funding, research reimbursement rates, international student visas, student financial aid, artificial intelligence and college athletics.
The $8.5 million total only includes AAU members and is likely an undercount of total expenditures, since several of those institutions missed legal deadlines to file Q1 lobbying reports. Last year, AAU members spent at least $8.8 million on federal lobbying in the first quarter and more than $37 million on such efforts during the first year of Trump 2.0.
Some AAU members saw significant increases in lobbying this quarter, while others spent less than in the past. The chart below lists only individual institutions, not those that lobby as a system.
While Emory University was a top 10 spender among AAU members over all last year, in the first quarter of 2025 it spent only $170,000. This year Emory started with a $380,000 push, the most of any AAU institution that reported its expenditures.
(Emory did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.)
The University of Washington was another top spender in Q1, shelling out $370,000. Though that is more than UW allocated in any quarter in 2025, the university spent the second most on federal lobbying among AAU members last year, with a quarterly average of more than $335,000.
Of the universities in the list above, five also ranked among the top 10 AAU spenders in 2025: Washington, Penn, Johns Hopkins, Yale and Emory.
The highest lobbying total among individual institutions, excluding systems, was a non-AAU member: the for-profit University of Phoenix, which spent $440,000 in the first quarter of 2026. (Phoenix spent $480,000 in each quarter of 2025, adding up to just under $2 million in lobbying costs.)
A few AAU member institutions saw major decreases in lobbying expenditures.
Despite being a top 10 spender on federal lobbying last year, Northwestern University has dialed back its efforts significantly, spending $121,000 in Q1 of this year compared to $607,000 at the start of last year. The steep drop comes after the university clashed with the Trump administration last year over frozen federal research funding before reaching an agreement to release those funds. In exchange, Northwestern agreed to pay the federal government $75 million and made various concessions, including reneging on a promise to provide more support for Muslim, Middle Eastern and North African students and to be more transparent on finances.
(Northwestern did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.)
Federal lobbying efforts also trended down at other institutions that struck similar deals with the Trump administration. Columbia University, for example, spent an average of $267,000 per quarter on lobbying efforts last year but just $200,000 to kick off 2026. Cornell University averaged $273,000 a quarter on lobbying costs last year but spent $180,000 in Q1 of 2026.
Other institutions that were not in the federal crosshairs also decreased lobbying expenses.
The University of Florida was the top spender among AAU members last year, with a total of more than $1.4 million, which averaged $356,000 a quarter. But UF spent just $170,000 in Q1 this year.
“As responsible stewards of taxpayer funds, the University of Florida reviewed and streamlined its processes to ensure effective full compliance with [Lobbying Disclosure Act] disclosures and timely submissions of LDA reporting,” UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed. “This effort led to a reduction in lobbying expenses—including the non-renewal of a third-party contract—that is reflected in the Q1 2026 report.”
Though an initial analysis shows lobbying costs for the first quarters of 2025 and 2026 are comparable, spending tends to fluctuate throughout the year In 2025, AAU members spent more in Q2 (at least $10.7 million) and Q3 (more than $9.2 million) than they did at the beginning of the year. While lobbying costs ebb and flow, the push in Q2 last year coincided with discussions about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which had far-reaching consequences for the sector.
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