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Graduate & professional federal student loan caps move into implementation
A major federal shift to graduate and professional borrowing limits moves from rulemaking into implementation on July 1, with Grad PLUS eliminated for new borrowers and new annual and aggregate...
New federal FAFSA identity-fraud screening heads to permanency
House Republicans advanced a measure to make federal FAFSA identity-fraud screening permanent, codifying an approach the U.S. Department of Education started in April. The bill, the No Aid for...
Accreditation oversight adapts: SACSCOC rebrands
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges announced it will rebrand beginning in September, changing its name to the Commission on Colleges and Universities and...
Cybersecurity governance pressure grows after Canvas incidents
A higher-education cybersecurity briefing warned that the Canvas learning management system’s vendor-managed environment does not remove institutional accountability when incidents occur. The...
Tuition-equity litigation remains in play after court orders
Two recent federal court orders offer a window into an ongoing legal battle over tuition equity policies benefiting undocumented students. The rulings, described as part of a broader framework of...
Academic leadership churn at USC Marshall before no-confidence vote
USC announced that Marshall School of Business Dean Geoffrey Garrett will step down in August, transitioning to a newly created role as Special Advisor to the President for Global Strategy and...
Board-level conflict in Virginia Tech governance ends up in court
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger removed former Virginia Tech rector John Rocovich from the state university board late last month, citing ethical violations—an action Rocovich is now challenging...
Faculty and labor governance: arbitrator orders Western Illinois reinstatements
An arbitrator ruled that Western Illinois University’s 2024 layoffs of 11 employees violated the university’s collective bargaining agreement, ordering reinstatement and back pay, according to the...
Student access and success: program model targets ‘summer melt’
CUNY’s College Bridge for All is expanding the use of peer mentoring to combat “summer melt,” where admitted students fail to enroll after high school. The program is framed as a near-peer...
Enrollment pressures: Marshall University cuts and expands programs under state review
Marshall University’s board approved a new set of academic program changes, cutting seven programs and improving or expanding five others as part of West Virginia’s mandated program review...
Graduate student borrowing limits take effect—Grad PLUS ends for new borrowers
Federal student loan policy is changing for graduate and professional students, starting July 1, as Grad PLUS is eliminated for new borrowers and new annual and aggregate federal loan limits take...
FAFSA identity fraud gets House approval—screening system becomes law
A Republican-backed bill aimed at stopping identity fraud in federal student aid passed the U.S. House this week, requiring the Department of Education to screen applicants for potential identity...
Boards and deans in conflict—USC Marshall leadership faces a no-confidence vote
USC’s Marshall School of Business moved to end a leadership dispute before a planned faculty no-confidence vote, announcing Dean Geoffrey Garrett will step down in August. The decision comes weeks...
Budget-driven academic restructuring—University of Denver consolidates schools and cuts departments
The University of Denver announced an academic reorganization that consolidates five schools and colleges into two units while eliminating five departments, with remaining programs continuing...
Accreditor branding update—SACSCOC rebrands to reflect national scope
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is changing its name to the Commission on Colleges and Universities starting in September, alongside a logo change...
CUNY’s student success program under DOJ scrutiny—Black Male Initiative challenged
The U.S. Department of Justice opened investigations into City University of New York’s student success programming, alleging the system’s Black Male Initiative violates civil-rights law. DOJ said...
Faculty employment dispute—arbitrator orders Western Illinois to reinstate librarians
Western Illinois University must reinstate 11 employees, including nine academic librarians, after an arbitrator ruled the 2024 layoffs violated the university’s collective bargaining agreement....
Academic freedom and compliance collide—Indiana faculty reappointment denied after diversity law dispute
A lecturer at Indiana University who was investigated under Indiana’s intellectual-diversity law for using a “white supremacy” graphic in a course learned she would not be reappointed next year....
Higher ed IT risk expands—Canvas cyberattack underscores distributed liability
Higher education leaders are being reminded that cybersecurity accountability does not end when data sits in vendor-managed systems, after a cyberattack involving Instructure’s Canvas learning...
Federal race-conscious admissions challenges intensify—DOJ accuses UC Davis of using racial proxies
The U.S. Department of Justice alleged that the UC Davis School of Medicine violated federal anti-discrimination law by adopting admissions practices it says were designed to circumvent the...