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Latest Higher Education News

U.S. student visas tumble: 97,000 fewer issued over summer

March 08, 2026

The issuance of F-1 student visas plunged over the critical May–August 2025 window, with the U.S. State Department data showing a 36% drop that translated into roughly 97,000 fewer visas granted,...

State budget squeeze—Fitch flags pressure on public colleges

March 08, 2026

Fitch Ratings warned that strained state budgets and federal policy shifts are likely to exert renewed financial pressure on public colleges, especially in states already showing spending...

Indiana mandates CLT: public colleges must accept rival college test

March 08, 2026

Governor Mike Braun signed SB 88, requiring Indiana public colleges to accept the Classic Learning Test (CLT) as an alternative to the SAT or ACT. The law, effective in July, follows a trend of...

Shadow data in higher ed: unsanctioned campus files risk FERPA breaches

March 08, 2026

Colleges and universities face a growing governance challenge as institutional data increasingly lives outside sanctioned systems—the problem known as 'shadow data.' Campus leaders and IT...

Anthropic’s labor map: AI exposure stretches across professional roles

March 08, 2026

Anthropic published a detailed analysis mapping which jobs AI can feasibly perform and where real‑world adoption currently sits—findings that campus leaders, career‑services teams, and workforce...

College boards on edge: Montana search draws strong field amid governance warnings

March 08, 2026

The University of Montana’s presidential search drew unusually high interest, a sign of intense competition for campus leadership this year. That development comes as higher‑education governance...

OpenAI robotics leader resigns — Pentagon frets over vendor dependence

March 08, 2026

Caitlin Kalinowski resigned from OpenAI, citing principle‑based objections to permissive Pentagon uses including surveillance and lethal autonomy. Her exit follows public disquiet inside tech...

Business schools retool: Isenberg folds AI into core MBA

March 08, 2026

Isenberg School of Management announced a programmatic overhaul—launching AI certificates and integrating AI resources across core MBA courses—to prepare graduates for workplaces where AI tools...

Stiglitz: buckle up — AI bubble risks 'reallocation' of workers

March 08, 2026

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz warned policymakers and academic leaders to prepare for an AI‑driven reallocation era that could resemble a bubble: heavy short‑term macro gains from AI investment...

Khosla: 'All education should be free' — Gen Z’s degree payoff is eroding

March 08, 2026

Vinod Khosla argued that technology could make education freely available and questioned the long‑term role of traditional four‑year degrees. His prediction arrives as labor‑market data show...

Student visas plunge: US issuances fall 36% ahead of 2025 term

March 08, 2026

The issuance of F-1 student visas collapsed over the critical May–August 2025 window, falling about 36% and leaving roughly 97,000 fewer visas issued, a Chronicle analysis of State Department data...

Fitch warns: state budget strains set to squeeze public colleges

March 08, 2026

Fitch Ratings warned that strained state budgets could place growing credit pressure on public colleges, highlighting Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio and South Carolina as states...

Shadow data in higher ed... colleges scramble to govern unsanctioned records

March 08, 2026

Campus leaders are confronting a rise in “shadow data”—institutional records captured and stored outside approved IT systems—raising FERPA, privacy and compliance risks as universities expand...

Supreme Court signal: schools face new constraints on gender‑disclosure policies

March 08, 2026

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling on an emergency docket that effectively signals California policies limiting schools’ disclosure to parents about students’ gender transitions likely violate...

Indiana mandates CLT: public colleges must accept conservative alternative to SAT/ACT

March 08, 2026

Indiana enacted SB 88, requiring public colleges to accept the Classic Learning Test (CLT) as an alternative to the SAT or ACT starting in July. The law expands use of a conservative‑aligned...

UNC hides probe findings — $1.2M review completed, details withheld

March 08, 2026

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill concluded a $1.2 million outside investigation into its School of Civic Life and Leadership but will not release the report, citing university...

Course shutouts: students blocked from required classes, degree progress stalls

March 08, 2026

A new report documents the prevalence of course “shutouts” that prevent students from registering for required classes, adding time and cost to degree completion. The study highlights how...

Business schools retool: graduate curricula rewired for AI

March 08, 2026

Business schools are integrating AI into core graduate curricula after Isenberg launched both undergraduate and graduate AI certificates and retooled MBA courses to embed generative tools across...

AI in college search: institutions risk vanishing from prospective students' results

March 08, 2026

Nearly 80% of people searching for degree information read AI‑generated overviews, a recent study found, shifting the first line of contact for prospective students from institutional websites to...

AGB warns: a hidden institutional risk could catch colleges off guard

March 08, 2026

In the March 2026 issue of Higher Ed Risk, AGB President and CEO Ross Mugler flagged an underappreciated institutional risk that boards and presidents need to confront, urging strategic...