Democracy's Campus 2036
A shared, visionary blueprint to reclaim higher education as the fifth pillar of democracy reflective of a diverse society.
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In February 2026, the Alliance for Higher Education convened more than 50 cross-sector organizations and institutions to begin the work of developing a forward-looking vision and blueprint that reaffirms higher education’s role as an engine for democracy. From this meeting, a working group has been established to outline the recommendations and actions necessary to influence current and future conditions to achieve the following core values:
- To reaffirm higher education’s unwavering alignment with the American ideals of developing a more perfect union that provides access and achievement for all
- To establish an unapologetic, visionary commitment to ensuring people from all walks of life are represented, belong, and thrive in our institutions
- To commit to an education system where the curriculum reflects the diversity of our nation
- To value the power of each higher education institution type in delivery on democratic ideals
- To place primacy on ensuring institutional autonomy
- To consider accessible, affordable education as a fundamental right of all people
- To advance sector-wide accountability for how higher education is advancing a democratic and equitable society, and for improving achievement of holistic student outcomes
The blueprint will be released in November 2026. For more information, please contact Tia McNair, vice president of strategy and collective impact: tmcnair@allianceforhighered.org.
Action Hubs
The Alliance for Higher Education and its partners have established Action Hubs that focus on specific issue areas within the higher education and democracy sectors essential to advancing the Alliance's core principles. Hubs are comprised of individuals and representatives from Alliance partner organizations who come together on a regular basis to share information, strategize, coordinate, and activate plans to influence the conditions to achieve defined goals that support higher education, based on their issue area, expertise, and organizational background.
Using a Collective Impact Theory of Change, Action Hub members seek to address the following questions to change the conditions that surround higher education and its ecosystem that impact the capacity to research, learn, and elevate student success equitably:
1. What are the biggest challenges or concerns, at the state or federal levels, related to sector autonomy, academic freedom, and equity facing the issue area on which the Hub focuses?
2. What are we, in our individual capacities and/or at our respective organizations, currently doing to address these challenges?
3. What can we do collectively that we can't do separately and what can the Alliance do that the sector and/or current partners do not have bandwidth for, or that would allow organizations to return their focus to their original missions?
Using a Collective Impact Theory of Change, Action Hub members seek to address the following questions to change the conditions that surround higher education and its ecosystem that impact the capacity to research, learn, and elevate student success equitably:
1. What are the biggest challenges or concerns, at the state or federal levels, related to sector autonomy, academic freedom, and equity facing the issue area on which the Hub focuses?
2. What are we, in our individual capacities and/or at our respective organizations, currently doing to address these challenges?
3. What can we do collectively that we can't do separately and what can the Alliance do that the sector and/or current partners do not have bandwidth for, or that would allow organizations to return their focus to their original missions?
Current list of Action Hubs:
- Academic Freedom
- Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences*
- Civic Engagement and Voting
- Governance
- Infrastructure for Equity
- Legal*
- Policy Development and Model Legislation
- Public Trust in Higher Education
- STEM*
- Student Partnerships, Access and Success
*Action Hub led by a partner organization