How States Could Throw University Science a Lifeline

August 14, 2025 1 min read

L. Rafael Reif 
The Atlantic

Excerpt: Whatever halfway measures Congress or the courts may take to stop President Donald Trump’s assault on universities, they will not change the fact that a profound agreement has been broken: Since World War II, the U.S. government has funded basic research at universities, with the understanding that the discoveries and innovations that result would benefit the U.S. economy and military, as well as the health of the nation’s citizens.

There is a way forward… It is based on the premise that, because universities are not the sole nor even the most significant beneficiaries of the scientific research they conduct, they should not be alone in trying to save their R&D operations. And it is focused not on Washington but on the individual states that have relied most on federal research spending.

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