Dive Brief:
- Inside Higher Ed reports on rumors of cuts to the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities from the Donald Trump Administration, a move which could jeopardize public broadcast offerings at college radio stations nationwide.
- Various reports say that conservative budget analysts believe cutting funds to the endowments, along with privatizing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, would save taxpayers more than $296 million annually.
- The cuts would represent less than 1% of the federal operating budget but could limit significant college-level research and development for liberal arts colleges which do not compete for many grants from STEM-focused agencies like Health and Human Services, or the Department of Defense.
Dive Insight:
While many observers fear the implications for broadcast entities on campus like National Public Radio, colleges and universities are typically the biggest recipients of funding from these federal resources. In 2015, the NEH funded more than 800 projects with $121 million in support, mostly for research and development of college-based initiatives.
For smaller institutions, college leaders will now have to consider more aggressive fundraising tactics to maintain support for public radio stations, museums, digital archiving and other projects which support public education in the liberal arts, many of which serve as engagement tools for secondary and high schools through field trips and secondary research visits. In the south and rural regions without great wealth or public awareness for the arts, this may prove to be an impossible task.