Politics of Higher Education

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Phil Wilkerson
November 10, 2025

In our current state of politics we might find a common fear among many Americans regarding the stability of higher education. In some regards the fears may be well founded. However, we might carefully consider a brief legislative history of post-secondary education in our nation and recognize that much larger hurdles have been cleared.

Bitter Roots

At the turn of the nineteenth century we see a growth of education advocates in the northeast who led the fight in developing compulsory education. The notion of mandatory schooling posed a threat to the workforce, which was loaded with youthful workers filling roles in various industries. Education was broadly viewed as radical and unnecessary with very few privileged individuals attending ivy league institutions. Engineering studies were primarily restricted to experimental projects prior to the programs offered at West Point Military Academy in the early 1800s which prepared military officers for leadership in war studies and civilian engineering opportunities. Additional engineering programs would emerge sparsely in New York to fuel industrial advances in urban planning and development, creating interest and support for civil engineering programs at the University of Michigan, Harvard and Yale. Legislative support for engineering colleges and programs rested primarily at the state level but federal legislators invested significant resources in the US Army Corps of Engineers for major projects such as the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1824 which was prioritized by Speaker of the House Henry Clay who advocated for federal strategies to propel national economics.

Needs for agriculture became obvious as American farmers faced radical economic hardship spurred through westward expansion. Industrialized tools, a larger market for farmers and a growing workforce led to an overproduction of crops and a subsequent decrease in demand and value. International trade also emerged as an enemy to American farmers, many of whom fell victim to foreclosure or left the farming market for industrial jobs and relocation to urban areas. Political efforts to support the agriculture industry met challenges in the complex debates regarding slavery. With the Southern states churning an economic powerhouse in cotton and tobacco, abolitionist spokespersons found resolution in sponsoring free soil efforts that might empower family farming as a retort to Southern politics. The Land Act of 1820 opened frontier land at incredibly low prices and increased the purchasing power of many families to acquire homestead farms. Such dynamics influenced the increased suffrage opportunities that fueled Jacksonian Democracy and a rapid growth in settlement territories. Legislative actions such as the Missouri Compromise and the subsequent Kansas Nebraska Act would pose regulatory boundaries on slavery and instigate debates regarding the future of agriculture. Influenced by the need to shape the nation’s economic and workforce structures, House member Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont sponsored a bill that offered an equal land acquisition for each state. Morrill’s college land grant bill passed through Congress in 1859 but was vetoed by President James Buchanan, a Jacksonian Democrat who courted Southern voters.

Timing and Action

Vehement discourse over slavery prompted Southern states to secede from the union following President Lincoln’s inauguration. Speaker of the House Galusha Grow provided fierce advocacy for progressive reform in rekindling support for the previously vetoed land grant act. Having previously served alongside Vermont’s Justin Morrill, now a Senator, Grow was familiar with educational support for an industrialized future in the West and labored tirelessly to guide House action in prioritizing legislation to support education programs. Officially titled An Act Donating Public Lands to the Several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, the Morrill Act entailed an establishment of 30,000 acres of land per member of Congress for each state to create colleges or universities. On July 2, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act into law, thereby creating several institutions of higher education to widen educational access across the nation. Post Civil War reconstruction efforts saw a second version of Morrill’s legislation enacted in 1890 in support of Southern states and African American students, as well as marking provisions for future federal funding of agricultural and mechanical universities such as Alabama A&M, Texas A&M and Florida A&M. The second version of the legislation also perpetuated greater federal oversight and solidified the federal government’s position in mandating educational equality and access.

Effect and Perspective

As landmark legislation for higher education, the Morrill Act initiated a new area of public policy by launching open access for post-secondary education. Both phases of the Morrill Act, 1862 and 1890, promoted college and university education as an economic engine that would establish the United States as a dominant international participant through advances in technology and management. Favorable and lasting outcomes shaped the ideals that nurtured the legislative drive behind the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the GI Bill, and the Higher Education Act of 1965 which proliferated institutions of higher education throughout the country. As universities multiplied, higher education policy became a prominent forum for debating and instigating legislative precedent on accessibility, leading to the development of the US Department of Education as an executive cabinet department.

With media focus on potential decreased funding for higher education, a threat of dissolving the Department of Education and looming student loan debt our perception may be understandably dire. As the proverbial pendulum seems to swing in a regressive direction, we might consider the depth of barriers that have been shattered and the innovative spirit of America’s true public servants as an inspiration for clarity. History suggests that great things await.

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Author: Phil Wilkerson is a doctoral student in the DPA program at Valdosta State University, serving as a Director and instructor of American Government at North Florida College. He may be reached at [email protected].

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