Get the Daily Brief
Latest Higher Education News
OpenAI renegotiates Pentagon pact — adds surveillance guardrails
OpenAI has reopened talks with the Department of Defense to amend a hastily struck contract and add explicit limits on domestic surveillance, CEO Sam Altman told employees. In an internal memo...
Pentagon cancels fellowships at 13 elite colleges — research pipeline jolted
The U.S. Department of Defense has canceled fellowship placements at 13 elite U.S. colleges, a move that severs a pipeline of graduate-level talent and raises new questions about the relationship...
U.S. satellite campuses in Mideast go remote as war spreads
Multiple U.S. universities with overseas satellite campuses moved classes online and shuttered physical operations as the regional conflict expanded, leaving students and staff stranded and...
UNC reverses secret-recording policy — chancellor scraps rule after backlash
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has rescinded a recently adopted policy that would have allowed administrators to secretly record classroom sessions, chancellor Lee Roberts told...
Judge dismisses key SAVE suit — loan‑forgiveness plan may survive temporarily
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed the principal lawsuit challenging the SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) repayment plan, a ruling consumer advocates say could give...
Indiana bill targets ‘low‑earning’ degrees — funding and programs at risk
Indiana lawmakers passed a measure directing public colleges to cut or justify degree programs whose graduates’ median earnings fail to outpace certain high‑school‑graduate wages. The bill...
Historic HBCU’s revival inches toward accreditation — students enroll amid risk
Barber‑Scotia College, founded in 1867 as the first historically Black female college in the South, reports it has met 14 of 17 accrediting standards and is advancing toward federal recognition...
Districts and campuses write their own AI rules — patchwork governance grows
New data from more than 1,000 K–12 districts and reporting from campus professors show institutions are crafting disparate AI policies as student usage outpaces governance. District briefings...
Campus IT confronts an AI governance gap — startups and licensing come into focus
As campuses adopt AI agents and cloud services, veterans from CrowdStrike and SentinelOne launched JetStream Security to map live AI activity inside enterprises; the company raised $34 million to...
College leaders brace for structural upheaval — admissions, visas and AI top the agenda
College presidents at the American Council on Education conference warned of an impending “earthquake” for higher education driven by tighter student visas, AI adoption, and demographic pressures....
Pentagon cancels fellowships at 13 colleges — ties with defense programs severed
Lead: The Pentagon has canceled fellowship placements at 13 U.S. colleges, a move university leaders say will disrupt graduate pipelines and campus ties to defense research. The department’s...
UNC scraps secret-recording policy — administrators reverse course
Lead: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has rescinded a recently adopted policy that authorized administrators to secretly record classroom sessions, following faculty backlash and...
U.S. satellite campuses in Gulf move online — students and staff stranded
Lead: Universities operating campuses across the Gulf region have shifted classes online and shuttered in-person operations as the Iran conflict spreads and air travel grinds to a...
College presidents warn of an 'earthquake' — international enrollment and AI top agenda
Lead: College presidents at the American Council on Education conference described higher education as on the verge of an "earthquake," pointing to tighter visa rules, AI adoption, and demographic...
Program and personnel cuts cluster at a few campuses — February wave widens
Lead: February brought a concentrated round of program eliminations and staff reductions at a small set of institutions, university reports show. Reporting indicates a handful of colleges enacted...
Clearinghouse severs data tie with Tufts voting study — research access disrupted
Lead: The National Student Clearinghouse has ended its data-sharing relationship with Tufts University researchers who have tracked college-student voting since 2013, the teams announced after...
Education Department banner sparks campus politics — Charlie Kirk displayed alongside MLK
Lead: The U.S. Department of Education drew criticism after placing a banner featuring conservative activist Charlie Kirk in a display at its Washington headquarters alongside historical education...
Eight trends are reshaping college admissions — tests, AI and demographics collide
Lead: A new synthesis of the 2025–26 admissions cycle identifies eight forces upending college admissions, from legal rulings and demographic shifts to AI and renewed interest in standardized...
AI crisis scenario rattles business academia — thought exercise spills into markets
Lead: A speculative memo forecasting a 2028 AI-driven economic crisis has prompted business‑school faculty to reassess teaching models and research priorities after the scenario briefly rattled...
Satellite campuses shuttered: U.S. programs move online in Gulf
U.S. universities with branch campuses in the Gulf suspended in-person instruction and shifted to remote operations as the U.S.-Israel military campaign expanded across the region. Institutions in...