Representative Tim Bishop Receives 2011 NAICU Award for Advocacy of Independent Higher Education

February 01, 2011

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Tony Pals, tony@naicu.edu, (202) 739-0474

WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 1--Representative Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., has received the 2011 Award for Advocacy of Independent Higher Education from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). The award was presented by NAICU President David L. Warren during a luncheon on Tuesday, February 1, at the NAICU annual meeting. The meeting is being held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

The NAICU Advocacy Award was established in 1993 to recognize individuals outside of academe who have championed the cause of independent nonprofit higher education. No single contribution makes one eligible to receive the award. Instead, it recognizes a lifetime of service, initiative, and determination.

Prior to his election to Congress, Rep. Bishop worked as a college administrator for more than 25 years. This intense and in-depth campus experience gives Bishop a rare level of insight into higher education policy and the student aid programs - insight that has proven invaluable over his eight years in Congress.

Rep. Bishop has been a staunch promoter of the federal student aid programs. As a former financial aid director, he appreciates the value of the campus-based aid programs that allow colleges to target additional aid to students with circumstances beyond the measure of any federal need analysis system. At a time when many consider these programs to be duplicative, he knows that they complement the foundation Pell Grant program.

More recently, Bishop has led the effort in Congress to redesign, instead of eliminate, the Perkins Loan Program. Under his vision, the program would be greatly expanded to serve more students at more schools, allowing for less high-cost private loan borrowing. As a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and past member of the House Committee on the Budget he has been particularly influential in this debate.

"Rep. Bishop understands the importance of providing opportunity to students, without hampering the creativity and independence of the nation's colleges," said NAICU President David L. Warren. "No member of Congress better appreciates and supports the rich diversity of American higher education, and the importance of that diversity - both to our nation's future, and to the individual futures of our citizens."

"For the depth of understanding he brings to higher education issues, for his appreciation of the role of private non-profit higher education in our society, and for his unwavering support of the federal student aid programs on behalf of our students, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities is pleased to present Congressman Tim Bishop with the 18th Annual NAICU Award for Advocacy of Independent Higher Education," Warren said.

Bishop received his A.B. from Holy Cross College, and his master's degree from Long Island University. He worked for over 25 years at Long Island University - beginning in the financial aid office and ultimately as provost at the university's Southampton College for 15 years, but also serving in various administrative positions along the way.

NAICU serves as the unified national voice of independent higher education. With more than 1,000 member institutions and associations nationwide, NAICU reflects the diversity of private, nonprofit higher education in the United States. NAICU members enroll 90 percent of all students attending private institutions. They include traditional liberal arts colleges, major research universities, church- and faith-related institutions, historically black colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, single-sex colleges, art institutions, two-year colleges, and schools of law, medicine, engineering, business, and other professions.

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