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DOJ says Yale’s medical school violated the Supreme Court admissions ban
The Justice Department announced findings that Yale School of Medicine violated the Supreme Court’s ban on race-conscious admissions by relying on racial proxies to select applicants. DOJ said...
Education Department’s OCR enforcement hits new low resolution rate in 2025
A report cited by Sen. Bernie Sanders says the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights resolved agreements in only 1% of pending cases in 2025—the lowest rate in more than a decade....
Online learning consolidation: Coursera and Udemy complete merger for AI-driven skills platform
Coursera and Udemy completed their previously announced merger, combining two major online learning platforms to capture savings and accelerate artificial intelligence investments. Company leaders...
DOJ and federal policy pressure around FAFSA and FSA operations
A small change to the Office of Federal Student Aid’s studentaid.gov branding triggered questions about the Trump administration’s plan to shift oversight from the U.S. Department of Education to...
U.S. medical admissions probes widen: Yale accused of race-proxy admissions again
DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said its inquiry into Yale School of Medicine admissions policies found patterns consistent with unlawful race-based selection. DOJ claimed admissions data showed Black...
Higher ed access and affordability: NC State covers senior-year education loans for borrowers
North Carolina State University’s commencement speaker announced that the university will cover final-year education loans for Wilson College of Textiles graduates who took out loans during the...
University IT and learning platforms: Canvas outage exposes vendor dependency and risk
A widespread Canvas outage validated faculty concerns about higher education’s reliance on private technology vendors for course delivery and learning management. Educators who anticipated service...
New AI-focused college launch
Sal Khan is spinning up Khan TED Institute (KTI), a new “AI-first” college built to compete directly with traditional degree programs rather than support existing institutions. The institute’s...
Online learning market consolidation via Coursera-Udemy merger
Coursera and Udemy finalized their merger, combining platforms used by about 290 million learners and supported by hundreds of university and industry partners. The companies say the deal will cut...
Student success and advising overhaul
A new APLU report finds that public and land-grant universities are moving from disconnected student-success efforts toward coordinated, data-driven strategies. Instead of isolated programs,...
Higher education compliance: OCR resolution collapse
A report cited by Sen. Bernie Sanders says the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reached resolution agreements with colleges and K-12 schools in only 1% of pending cases...
Federal student aid oversight transition scrutiny
Questions emerged over changes to the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) website as the Trump administration pursues plans to shift portions of FSA oversight and operations to the U.S. Department...
Credit for prior learning: state implementation roadmap
A new policy brief urges states to build a clearer road map for scaling credit for prior learning (CPL), including how to standardize policies and support institutional adoption. The focus is on...
College affordability: University of Chicago expands tuition-free eligibility
The University of Chicago moved to make tuition free for families with income under $250,000, expanding one of the most prominent affordability promises among major research universities. The...
Higher education AI and institutional operations: Canvas outage highlights vendor risk
A widespread Canvas outage appears to have validated long-running faculty concerns about dependence on private educational technology vendors. The reporting notes that many campuses treat a...
Student aid and rural access risk
Research highlighted by an Inside Higher Ed podcast warns that cuts to TRIO—federal access programs—would sharply harm rural students’ ability to reach and succeed in college. In interviews, Bates...
Campus free speech and labor/rights: reinstatement case tied to Israel-Palestine speech
A federal court ordered Texas State University to reinstate a fired philosophy professor after ruling on a First Amendment dispute tied to Israel-Palestine commentary. The decision requires...
Merger pressure reshapes online higher ed platforms
Coursera and Udemy finalized their merger after shareholders approved it in April, combining platforms and a combined footprint of about 290 million learners, 95,000 instructors, and hundreds of...
Tuition affordability: UChicago rolls out near-immediate free tuition offer
The University of Chicago moved to make tuition free for families earning under $250,000, positioning the policy as one of the few major U.S. research universities to waive tuition at that income...
Cybersecurity incident disrupts core learning platforms
Instructure said it reached an “agreement” with threat actors after ShinyHunters infiltrated Canvas in repeated attacks, causing widespread disruptions for schools and universities. The company...