Steven Holt: “I thank my friend from California. And here I join the New Jersey Presidents Council, which represents all the…”

“I thank my friend from California. And here I join the New Jersey Presidents Council, which represents all the institutions of higher education in New Jersey, in support of this legislation, as well as the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in New Jersey who support this bill, as well as the American Council on Education, which represents 1,600 college presidents around the country in support of this bill. {time} 1350 Clearly, there have been abuses in some businesses and some institutions and those abuses have to be addressed, but this legislation I think makes sure that we go about it in the right way. I'd like to quote from one of my constituents, President Shirley Tilghman of Princeton University. She writes: Unlike many nations elsewhere in the world, the United States has nurtured a vibrant and vigorous respect for academic freedom. Under such a system, American higher education has flourished. She goes on: But if recent trends continue, in which the staff at accrediting agencies seek to substitute their own judgments about what mission an institution should pursue and about how the institutions can best achieve that mission and measure success, we risk damaging the country's leading institutions. In other words, the Department's rules strike at the heart of our excellent higher education. But whether these rules are in effect or not doesn't matter if students can't afford to go to college.…”