ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Applauds Biden Administration’s Student Voting Push, Offers Civic Engagement Resources to Colleges & Universities

(Washington, DC): Today, Dr. Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a national initiative committed to engaging higher education institutions in the democratic process, released the following statement after the Department of Education sent a letter to institutions of higher education highlighting their responsibilities under the Higher Education Act:  

“College and universities have a responsibility under the Higher Education Act to engage their communities in the work of democracy and I’m delighted to see the Biden Administration and the Department of Education stepping up to remind them of that duty,” said Dr. Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “For any campus wondering where to start when it comes to engaging their students in nonpartisan voter registration, ALL IN is here to help. Our organization empowers institutions to increase student voting rates and we are ready to equip the 19 million students enrolled in colleges and universities across the country to get registered and ready to vote.” 

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Campuses that join the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge complete a set of action items, with the support of ALL IN Challenge staff, to institutionalize nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation on their campus. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge community is currently engaged with over 9 million students from 865 institutions in all 50 states. Campuses can join the ALL IN Challenge here.

On April 21, The Department of Education sent a letter to institutions of higher education highlighting their responsibilities under the Higher Education Act to make a good faith effort to distribute voter registration forms to students enrolled in these institutions. The Department last reminded institutions of this requirement in 2013. This letter was prompted by President Biden’s Executive Order #14019 on Promoting Access to Voting, which directed an all-of-government effort to promote information about the voting process and to further the ability of all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy.