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Latest Higher Education News

Pentagon-AI standoff: Anthropic ousted while OpenAI inks classified deal

February 28, 2026

A public rupture between the Pentagon and Anthropic escalated this week when the White House ordered federal agencies to cease using Anthropic’s models and the Defense Department threatened to...

Trump administration’s message lands at ACE: ‘Higher ed has lost its north star’

February 28, 2026

At the American Council on Education annual meeting, Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent delivered a forceful address demanding sweeping changes across higher education. Kent accused...

ICE on campus: Columbia student detained, then released after intervention

February 28, 2026

Federal immigration agents detained a Columbia University student early Thursday after entering a campus residence using what the university says were the pretext of searching for a missing child....

Faculty voice amid national politics: retired HBS professors and sector prognosis

February 28, 2026

Twenty‑three retired Harvard Business School professors published a joint letter warning against efforts they say could subvert American democracy by undermining free and fair elections. The...

Curriculum censorship and campus policing: Texas A&M and Columbia responses

February 28, 2026

Internal documents at Texas A&M reveal administrators scrambling to censor or restrict curriculum amid new state directives, producing widespread uncertainty among faculty about what can be...

MBA market shakeup: FT ranking shifts and enrollment signals

February 28, 2026

The Financial Times’ 2026 MBA ranking topped out with MIT’s Sloan taking first place for the first time, a notable shift for business‑school positioning and recruitment. The Poets&Quants wrap...

Campus tech and power: making IT resilient and sustainable

February 28, 2026

EDUCAUSE’s Top 10 for 2026 centers on reconciling collective will with individual capabilities as higher‑ed IT leaders push to make better institutional connections. The report stresses human...

AI in learning: educator adoption and the case against panic

February 28, 2026

Three years after the public release of mainstream LLMs, teachers report both productive AI uses and significant barriers to classroom adoption. Education Week’s webinar and survey show a shortage...

Teacher pipeline and funding strain: $2.5bn proposal meets flat Title III dollars

February 28, 2026

A coalition led by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Preparation proposed a $2.5 billion federal plan to rebuild teacher‑preparation pipelines, including scholarships and...

Anthropic refuses Pentagon terms: company draws a red line

February 28, 2026

Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei said the company “cannot in good conscience accede” to the Defense Department’s demand that it remove contractual limits on how the military can use its Claude models....

OpenAI inks Pentagon pact... Anthropic hit with supply‑chain label

February 28, 2026

OpenAI reached a preliminary agreement with the Pentagon to provide its models for classified systems while the government issued an unprecedented designation that labeled Anthropic a...

Education Department to reshape accreditation – new accreditors get fast track

February 28, 2026

The U.S. Department of Education outlined accelerated rules to recognize new accreditors and signaled broader plans to overhaul the accreditation system, saying it will hold institutions to...

Education Department discusses privatizing $1 trillion in student loans

February 28, 2026

The Department of Education confirmed it is still exploring proposals to privatize portions of the federal student‑loan portfolio, acknowledging meetings with stakeholders about selling more than...

Columbia student release after high‑profile intervention — campus rights under scrutiny

February 28, 2026

Federal agents detained a Columbia University student early Thursday; hours later she was released after President Trump intervened following a meeting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The...

UNC board approves contested academic‑freedom definition — faculty push back

February 28, 2026

The University of North Carolina system’s board of governors unanimously approved a new systemwide definition of academic freedom after contentious debate and faculty protests. The policy affirms...

University of Iowa to cut seven degree programs after low‑enrollment review

February 28, 2026

The University of Iowa announced plans to eliminate six undergraduate majors and one master’s program after a state‑mandated enrollment review identified persistently low major counts. Provost...

Long Beach Community College District settles with adjuncts — labor friction eases

February 28, 2026

Long Beach Community College District reached a settlement with adjunct faculty amid a labor dispute over pay, scheduling and working conditions. The announcement ends a contentious period of...

Trump official presses college leaders; ACE meeting urges defense of higher‑ed mission

February 28, 2026

At the American Council on Education’s annual meeting, Education Department Under Secretary Nicholas Kent told campus leaders the agency plans tougher oversight, saying higher education has “lost...

Teachers stall on AI adoption — PD gaps and siloed tech hinder campus use

February 28, 2026

Three years into widespread availability of generative AI, many K‑12 and higher‑education instructors remain hesitant to adopt it, citing inadequate professional development, unclear policies, and...

Higher ed must change: Trump official warns campuses — sector leaders bristle

February 28, 2026

Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent used a high-profile forum to press colleges and universities to accept sweeping federal demands for accountability and structural reform. Kent told...