From the Columbia Daily Spectator: Columbia spent $200,000 on federal lobbying between July and September, adding H1-B visa fees and caps on graduate student loans to its lobbying interests, while continuing to push for federal research funding. The University’s spending for the third quarter of 2026 is in line with the past two quarters. Its federal lobbying spending for this year so far—at $610,000—is $230,000 less than what the University had spent at this point last year. If the trend continues, Columbia is set to spend a smaller sum on federal lobbying this year than last year’s landmark total of over $1 million.
Columbia’s push against caps on graduate student loans follows provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act which took effect in July, introducing sweeping changes to federal student loans... In the second quarter of 2026, Columbia dropped “health care exemption from H1B fee” as an interest, but it resumed lobbying on “HIB visa fees” in the third quarter. Trump first proposed in September 2025 a rule which would require employers, including universities like Columbia, to pay a $100,000 fee for each sponsored H1-B visa. The rule was blocked for the second time in September 2026 by a federal judge.
Columbia is continuing to lobby against the Office of Management and Budget’s May proposal to revise the Uniform Guidance, the process by which federal grants are awarded. The changes would empower senior Trump appointees to approve federal grants aligned with the administration’s vision, specifically under the criteria of promoting “American interests” and “the President’s policy priorities.” ...
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