Higher education has an important stake in the national effort to widely deploy a state-of-the-art broadband public network. The Broadband Policy Group (BPG) developed a set of three principles to provide a consistent frame of reference for pursuing policy initiatives: (1) affordable broadband access; (2) a new regulatory structure; and (3) federal R&D support. Articulating and fulfilling the vision for Broadband America requires many activities, of which those in higher education are only a part. The BPG places the highest priority on the following five action areas: (1) The need for a revitalized and well-articulated national broadband vision; (2) The need for a new telecommunications legislation; (3) The need for new competitive players in the provisioning of local communications services; (4) The need for new approaches to universal service; and (5) The need for the continued contributions of federal research sponsors to the design, development, and deployment of the Internet. These principles and action areas are briefly discussed in this document.