The Great Recession informed higher education policymaking at the national level in the second decade of the twenty-first century. President Obama’s dual initiatives—the American Graduation Initiative and America’s College Promise—reinforced the vital role higher education plays in national economic security. However, neither initiative reached the level of legislative impact, exemplifying a broad disagreement as to the value of higher education in twenty-first century America. Following Obama, the 2016 election cycle was riddled with anti-intellectual rhetoric, favoring a largely ignorant public. The results of that election placed higher education on notice that there were new national priorities, and colleges and universities were put on the defensive.