A long‑awaited review recommended a major overhaul of the Department of Education’s research arm, calling for quicker, more relevant products and better coordination across centers to accelerate evidence into practice. The report criticizes long delays at the National Center for Education Statistics and urges streamlined grant processes and clearer communication with practitioners. At the same time, a collection of leading scholars warned that 2023–26 marks an inflection in American higher education, pointing to enrollment declines, shifting graduate funding and the ascent of AI as destabilizing forces. Contributors called for renewed attention to institutional autonomy and the sector’s ability to adapt to policy and demographic shocks. Together, the report and scholars’ essays frame an agenda: make federal research timelier and align higher‑education strategy to a changing regulatory and labor environment.