Get the Daily Brief
Latest Higher Education News
Campus safety and state policy: Florida’s carry law and enrollment caps collide
State legislatures continue to reshape campus policy: Florida approved a conditional campus‑carry law that changes firearms rules on campuses, while a separate proposal to cap out‑of‑state...
NIH notice drought—programmatic funding announcements collapse
The National Institutes of Health has sharply reduced the number of Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) it published in early 2026, a drop the research community says undermines strategic...
Accreditor backs microcredentials: HLC endorses third‑party providers
The Higher Learning Commission has granted its first formal endorsements to four third‑party microcredential providers, marking a new step toward greater institutional acceptance of short‑term,...
Blackboard concedes detection limits—campuses scramble to govern agentic AI
Blackboard executives warned that reliably detecting agentic AI in learning management systems is currently unrealistic, prompting a pivot toward redesigning assessment and pedagogy to manage...
Private colleges tighten speech rules: students face conduct charges
Private institutions are increasingly enforcing restrictive speech and student‑organization policies, citing reputational and donor pressures, legal officers and students report. A recent case at...
Adjunct pay failures persist—late pay hits CUNY and grad workers
Late and unreliable payroll has become a chronic problem for contingent faculty and graduate employees, with reports of repeated missed paydays at large systems such as the City University of New...
Oregon split—Southern Oregon aid approved while Portland State cuts advance
State lawmakers moved quickly to authorize conditional emergency aid for Southern Oregon University even as Portland State University outlines proactive program cuts under its PIVOT academic...
Iowa education fights: Senate stalls private‑college penalties while House advances curricular rules
Iowa’s legislature is moving on multiple fronts to reshape higher education: a House measure that would penalize private colleges with DEI offices by cutting student grant eligibility passed the...
Oregon State trustees approve tuition hike—board votes to close $14M gap
Oregon State University’s board approved tuition increases of about 5–6 percent—6.3% for new undergraduates and smaller raises for returning and graduate students—to address a projected $14...
Syllabi transparency laws: states force posting—professors change courses under pressure
A wave of state policies requiring public colleges to post syllabi has collided with a broader pattern of curricular self‑censorship among faculty. At least seven states now mandate publicly...
Australia’s Serd urges major R&D lift—basic research, PhDs and costing reforms recommended
Australia’s Strategic Examination of Research and Development (Serd) panel released a sweeping set of recommendations to reverse a decade of declines in basic research funding. The report calls...
Adjunct pay: campuses still missing paychecks, adjuncts say
Adjunct instructors at public universities reported repeated paycheck delays this semester, underscoring payroll weaknesses that affect untenured faculty and graduate employees. The Chronicle’s...
NIH research direction: funding notices collapse — program staff raise alarm
Former NIH officials and researchers warned that the agency has dramatically reduced proactive funding signals to the research community, publishing just 14 Notices of Funding Opportunities...
Admissions data fight: judge delays Education Dept. survey deadline
A federal judge pushed back the Education Department’s deadline for colleges to submit new race- and sex‑disaggregated applicant and admit data by one week amid a 17‑state legal challenge. The...
Syllabi transparency: states force faculty postings and professors push back
At least seven states and multiple university systems have adopted laws or policies requiring public colleges to post course syllabi, prompting debate over transparency and academic freedom....
Pell and Workforce Pell: shortfalls and rural access under scrutiny
Higher education leaders and policy analysts are pressing for urgent action after projections showed a looming Pell shortfall and concerns that Workforce Pell initiatives may bypass rural...
AI on campus: LMS detection limits and institutional execution gaps
Campus learning‑management vendors and administrators are confronting a two‑front challenge: technical limits to reliably detecting agentic AI use and uneven institutional readiness to integrate...
Campus health crisis: University of Kent cancels in‑person exams after meningitis deaths
The University of Kent moved some exams online and postponed others after an invasive meningitis outbreak linked to a Canterbury nightclub left two young people dead and several students...
Campus leadership: Ohio State president resigns, trustees install provost as successor
Ohio State University’s president resigned after an internal finding of an inappropriate relationship involving public resources; trustees moved quickly to appoint Provost Ravi Bellamkonda as...
Community college outcomes: alternative metrics show higher success
A Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond analysis found that measuring community‑college success more broadly boosts four‑year outcomes: a 49.8% success rate under an expanded definition versus the...