The Science blog on science policy reported last week that the Association of American Universities has sent a letter to Congress requesting that financial aid and research funding be part of any economic stimulus package.  You can read the full letter online at the AAU website (click on the December 17 item).  The specific recommendations are as follows (details in the letter):

1. Ensure access to a college education through grants and loans.

2. Create a mechanism to address credit market dislocation and enable colleges and
universities to finish construction of current building projects and begin
construction of shovel-ready projects.

3. Provide an additional $750 million for academic research facilities modernization
and instrumentation programs at the National Science Foundation, the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Institutes of Health.

4. Provide an additional $150 million for the Department of Energy’s new Energy Frontier
Research Centers program as a means of stimulating university energy research and training
capacity to address the nation’s energy challenges.

5. Provide $1.8 billion to enable research universities to hire more young scientists and engineers
for tenure-track faculty positions.

6. Significantly improve academic infrastructure around the country by creating the broad
academic infrastructure program discussed in the forthcoming letter of the higher education
associations.

The AAU represents 62 top-tier universities in North America, so it does not represent the depth and breadth of American higher education.  I do not know why they chose not to join with other higher education letters to bolster their case.  The National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC) also submitted a letter, and its recommendations, while not identical, do not seem inconsistent with what AAU member universities (some of which are also in NASULGC) would want.  A joint letter, representing more universities (and by extension, more states and individuals) would stand a better chance of seeing funds in a stimulus package.  The NASULGC recommendations (more details in the letter) focus on Student Aid, Infrastructure Grants, Investments in Scientific Capital, and Investments in Human Capital.

Given the long line forming at the federal trough, I have no confidence in whether or not science and related educational support will get a lot of attention in the pending stimulus package.  I think it should, but the lack of a united front in the advocacy for this assistance is not encouraging.