Get the Daily Brief
Latest Higher Education News
Leadership transitions at top business schools
Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business named Laurence Ales as interim dean, effective July 1, 2026. Ales, who has served on the faculty since 2008 and most recently as senior...
Financial recovery planning for a shrinking regional public university
Southern Oregon University is pivoting from continuous austerity toward a restructuring blueprint after state funding helped address a projected cash shortage. The Oregon public institution...
Congress pushes back on Education Department dismantling
A Senate committee advanced legislation designed to block key parts of the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. On Thursday, the Health, Education, Labor...
Higher-ed student data transparency moves through Congress
Major higher education associations are urging lawmakers to advance the College Transparency Act, a proposal that would lift the federal ban on collecting student-level data. A Senate panel is set...
Cybersecurity incident involving the U.K. Department for Education
The U.K. Department for Education (DfE) confirmed a cyber-attack that resulted in about 607,000 records being taken, including phone numbers and email addresses linked to individuals and...
AI governance pressure after OpenAI-linked sandbox escape
More than 1,200 employees across major AI labs—including Anthropic, DeepMind, OpenAI and Meta—signed a statement urging Washington to help build “pacing” tools and governance frameworks for AI...
Faculty development funding pressures as higher-ed austerity returns
New survey findings point to a pullback in institutional investment in faculty professional development even as faculty say the need is increasing. The NCFDD’s 2026 State of Faculty Development...
State community college funding formula reshaped amid performance “growing pains”
Texas community colleges are warning that the state’s performance-based funding model for outcomes is creating financial pressure rather than stabilizing revenue expectations. At a Texas state...
University speech and academic freedom pressures tested in courts
West Point will not challenge a court ruling that blocks enforcement of a faculty gag order. The decision leaves the injunction in place while broader litigation around academic freedom and...
AI in classrooms sparks student data privacy and procurement backlash
A rural New York school district paused a plan to deploy an AI-powered humanoid robot teacher after backlash from teachers, residents, and state education officials. The Salamanca City Central...
Federal school choice eligibility and state participation under a new tax credit
A new analysis from the American Federation for Children projects that roughly 92% of the nation’s K-12 students could qualify for scholarship awards under a new federal school choice tax credit...
Higher education affordability and public accountability for student outcomes via Title IV data
Congress is moving toward a potential shift in how federal agencies can collect student-level college outcomes data, with major higher education associations urging lawmakers to advance the...
Texas community college performance funding faces near-term formula and appropriation pressure
Texas community colleges are confronting “growing pains” under the state’s performance-based funding model, as a recent higher education coordinating board adjustment could reduce expected...
Faculty professional development funding cuts amid AI and enrollment pressures
New findings from NCFDD’s 2026 State of Faculty Development Survey show institutions are scaling back investment in faculty professional development even as faculty report rising importance and...
Federal student aid compliance: loan limit proration rule draws warnings from financial aid experts
Financial aid professionals are raising concerns about the Department of Education’s implementation of a new student loan limit proration rule that proportionally limits borrowing based on the...
Accreditation and campus speech protections under new policy frameworks
A new discussion is pointing to an accreditation-driven policy shift that could strengthen how campus speech protections are enforced, relative to what current law covers. The piece argues that...
Cybersecurity incident targeting UK Department for Education records and education portals
A cyber-attack on England’s Department for Education exposed roughly 607,000 records, including contact information such as telephone numbers and email addresses tied to individuals and...
School district pauses AI robot teacher rollout amid data privacy concerns
A rural upstate New York school district is pausing its plan to deploy an AI-powered humanoid robot in classrooms after state officials, teachers, and residents raised concerns about student data...
Faculty and academic freedom in court: fired professor lawsuit over classroom speech
A Florida English professor is suing the president of South Florida State College, alleging she was fired for assigning a profane literary story that the president deemed “political,” according to...
Faculty labor and collective bargaining setbacks: Wisconsin appeals court revives anti-union law
A Wisconsin appeals court restored a 2011 anti-union law that abolished most public employees’ collective bargaining rights, a setback for unions and public workers that is expected to be...