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Latest Higher Education News
Two states pause H‑1B hires — universities scramble
State governments have moved to restrict new H‑1B hiring at public colleges, prompting alarm from university leaders who rely on international scholars for research, instruction and clinical...
Education Dept says SJSU violated Title IX — demands apology
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights concluded San José State University violated Title IX for permitting a transgender woman to compete on its women’s volleyball team and...
EEOC accuses Penn of dodging subpoena — probe widens
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told a court the University of Pennsylvania waged an “intensive and relentless public relations campaign” to resist a subpoena in its investigation...
DOJ’s ADA countdown: web accessibility compliance due — act now
The Justice Department’s Title II web accessibility rule is forcing colleges to accelerate remediation of websites, portals and digital forms to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards ahead of 2026 compliance...
Yale expands free tuition — Nevada approves multi‑year hikes
Elite financial‑aid policy and public tuition decisions are diverging: Yale University expanded its tuition‑guarantee program to cover undergraduates from families earning under $200,000,...
UC Davis lands $120M gift — vet school to expand clinical and translational research
Philanthropists Joan and Sanford I. Weill pledged $120 million to UC Davis, marking one of the largest gifts in the university’s history and the biggest ever for veterinary medicine, the...
Colleges form alliance to resist government meddling — states push counsels
A newly formed Alliance for Higher Education aims to defend institutional autonomy after a year of increased federal and state scrutiny, focusing on legal support and advocacy to prevent...
Academic freedom tested — UNC proposes limits as visa enforcement chills speech
The University of North Carolina’s Faculty Assembly advanced a proposed definition of academic freedom that explicitly states ‘‘academic freedom is not absolute,’’ a move that drew objection from...
Federal research agencies lost thousands of Ph.D.s — hires lagged
Fourteen federal research agencies experienced a sharp net loss of Ph.D. holders in STEM and health roles in 2025, according to a Science analysis of Office of Personnel Management data....
ED to rewrite accreditation rules: negotiated rulemaking set in motion
Federal education officials moved to overhaul the U.S. accreditation system, launching negotiated rulemaking that would ease entry for new accreditors and remove existing diversity, equity and...
States pause H-1B hiring: universities told to halt new sponsorships
Two Republican governors ordered stops to new H-1B hiring at public universities, triggering immediate concern at research institutions that rely on international talent. Florida and Texas...
Ph.D. exodus at federal labs: agencies lose thousands of researchers
Fourteen federal research agencies reported a large net outflow of Ph.D.-level STEM and health staff in 2025, with hires trailing departures by about 11 to 1 and a net loss of roughly 4,224...
Yale expands free tuition: families under $200k now covered
Yale University broadened its undergraduate tuition guarantee to cover all families with incomes under $200,000, and pledged to cover total cost of attendance for households under $100,000. The...
Nevada raises tuition: multi-year increases approved to plug budget gap
Nevada’s governing board approved tuition and fee increases of up to 12% for four-year public universities and 9% for two-year colleges over three years to fill a projected fiscal shortfall. The...
ADA Title II compliance clock: institutions must fix web access by 2026
The Department of Justice’s new ADA Title II web accessibility rule has begun a compliance countdown, and higher-education leaders are being urged to remediate websites, portals, and digital forms...
School cellphone bans...mixed results: states grade policies, students report little change
A new state-by-state analysis graded K–12 cellphone policies and found wide variation: North Dakota and Rhode Island earned top marks for bell-to-bell bans with inaccessible storage, while many...
AI and cheating: students use tools to avoid false detector flags
A growing number of college students are turning to generative AI to avoid accusations of cheating after many were flagged by imperfect AI detectors, according to reporting on campus practices....
New alliance to defend campus autonomy: sector groups push back on government meddling
A newly launched Alliance for Higher Education announced a mission to shield colleges and universities from what organizers call government overreach, framing institutional autonomy as essential...
AGB names Ross Mugler CEO: governance group picks longtime trustee leader
The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) appointed Ross Mugler as its president and CEO after a year in the interim role. Mugler, a former city commissioner and...
Federal labs hemorrhage Ph.D. talent: 11-to-1 departures outpace hires
A mass exodus of Ph.D. scientists and health researchers from 14 federal research agencies left a net shortfall of roughly 4,224 positions last year, Science reported. The National Institutes of...