Statement on Academic Excellence in Higher Education

October 3, 2025, Phi Beta Kappa - As an academic honor society long known for recognizing academic excellence, the Phi Beta Kappa Society endorses AAC&U’s recent statement opposing political interference in higher education and renewing the call for constructive engagement with government.

Since our founding in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa has upheld the values of academic freedom and free inquiry as essential to excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. We affirm that institutional autonomy and self-governance are vital to higher education’s ability to serve campuses and communities through research and teaching.

Ultimately, academic freedom matters to all Americans by cultivating the intellectual habits required to become and remain a self-governing people. Long upheld by American policymakers and the Supreme Court, academic freedom relies on “four essential freedoms” of institutions to serve the public good through teaching and research: “to determine for itself on academic grounds who may teach, what may be taught, how it shall be taught, and who may be admitted to study.” Conditioning federal funds at the expense of academic freedom undermines the essential principles that define American higher education.

As noted by our colleagues at AAC&U, American higher education’s longstanding partnership with government has, is, and must be vital to innovation and progress. Phi Beta Kappa rejoins their call for continued constructive engagement and firmly opposes any approach that would undermine institutional freedoms or create instability by placing colleges and universities under the shifting political priorities of each new administration. Instead, we urge the administration to return to the enduring laws and principles that have guided us for generations.

The following statement, issued jointly by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the Phi Beta Kappa Society, was developed in collaboration with college and university presidents and other educational leaders across the country, after national meetings convened by AAC&U and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Read the full joint public statement, Higher Education’s Compact with America: Shared Principles for the Common Good.

Phi Beta Kappa began with a student-driven idea that the arts and sciences could serve as a grounding and elevating force in turbulent times. Today, times are turbulent for the arts and sciences themselves as policymakers propose cuts to critical funding for higher education accessibility, scientific research, and the nation’s cultural endowments. Amid uncertainty, here are some productive ways to champion the arts and sciences. See more PBK news, federal policy updates, additional public statements and other resources here.