Why It Matters
Small College Coalition, a group of 24 small liberal arts schools, has registered to lobby on education issues through theGROUP DC LLC. The coalition emerged after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law in July 2025, which established a 8 percent endowment tax on net investment income for institutions with endowments of $500,000 or more per full-time equivalent student.
The filing reports no lobbying income. The disclosure lists education as the issue area, with no specific legislation identified and the specific issues section left blank. David Cleary, a Principal at theGROUP DC LLC, is the lead lobbyist of record for the coalition.
Broader Context
The higher education landscape faces significant headwinds. A projection estimates that 442 of the nation's approximately 1,700 private, nonprofit four-year colleges are at risk of closing or merging within the next 10 years, with a combined enrollment of 670,000 students, according to NPR. Approximately 60 colleges close every year, almost exclusively small private institutions. In April 2026, the nation's colleges experienced closures, cutbacks, and at least one bankruptcy. Federal research funding has also contracted, with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding reduced by nearly $18 billion.
Small colleges began hiring federal lobbyists for the first time in May 2025 in response to the endowment tax threat. The coalition ultimately solidified into 24 schools lobbying directly against the endowment tax.
The Bottom Line
The group now has representation from a firm with deep ties to education policy networks, positioning it to engage with lawmakers on the full range of higher education challenges facing small institutions.
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