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Latest Higher Education News

NSF governance disruption as White House ousts the board

April 29, 2026

The White House terminated all members of the National Science Board, leaving NSF without a board and undermining near-term governance for one of the federal government’s largest research funding...

Grad-student labor demands tied to immigration enforcement protections

April 29, 2026

Graduate-student unions escalated contract demands aimed at protecting international students amid immigration enforcement pressure. Harvard’s graduate students went on strike, and MIT’s graduate...

Penn seeks court pause on EEOC Jewish-employee data demand

April 29, 2026

The University of Pennsylvania won a temporary court stay blocking the EEOC from forcing turnover of extensive information on Jewish employees while an appeal proceeds. U.S. District Judge Gerald...

Curriculum portfolio cuts at East Carolina University

April 29, 2026

East Carolina University announced plans to discontinue 44 undergraduate and graduate programs after an internal portfolio review identified offerings “that aren’t meeting expectations.” The...

New AI college at UW–Madison backed by $100M gift commitments

April 29, 2026

The University of Wisconsin–Madison received $100 million in private gift commitments to launch a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, set to open July 1, 2026. The funding comes...

AI learning outcomes and professional-admissions signaling in reading and assessment

April 29, 2026

A nationally representative survey from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and RAND Corp. finds that while most K–3 teachers support phonics-focused reading instruction, substantial gaps remain in...

Business school AI curriculum expansion increasingly selective through electives

April 29, 2026

An analysis of AI course offerings across 20 top MBA programs shows Stanford Graduate School of Business leading the field, with 30 identifiable AI courses—nearly double the count at the...

Federal research funding governance at NSF

April 28, 2026

The White House removed the entire membership of the National Science Board overseeing the National Science Foundation, leaving the agency without a board and without a director or deputy...

Department of Education data compliance in higher education

April 28, 2026

A federal judge blocked the Education Department from requiring more colleges to submit detailed race-and-sex applicant and enrollment data while a lawsuit over the department’s new survey is...

Civil rights enforcement and student/employee data privacy

April 28, 2026

A judge granted the University of Pennsylvania a temporary stay in the Trump administration’s push for Jewish employee information sought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. U.S....

Institutional program downsizing and teach-outs

April 28, 2026

East Carolina University announced it will discontinue 44 undergraduate and graduate programs after an internal portfolio review, pairing the cuts with teach-out plans and consolidation moves. The...

Accreditation and state-level curricular control

April 28, 2026

Texas is tightening curricular control across public higher education, restricting what faculty can teach and what graduate students can research, according to reporting on a parallel accreditor...

Student activism, campus governance, and closure-related disputes

April 28, 2026

A stream of new campus labor and policy actions underscores how higher education communities are contesting institutional change. Harvard graduate student workers have gone on strike, while other...

AI in higher education: procurement, workforce, and curriculum

April 28, 2026

Business schools are accelerating AI curriculum adoption, while universities also expand AI-focused capacity through new academic units. A new analysis of 20 top MBA programs found Stanford GSB...

Facilities and deferred maintenance debt

April 28, 2026

Facilities debt at U.S. colleges is rising as campuses face underinvestment and a mismatch between space and enrollment, according to the “State of Facilities in Higher Education” report by...

Mental health and student well-being under pressure

April 28, 2026

Stress and burnout are taking a measurable toll across work and learning environments, with a new International Labour Organization report estimating deaths linked to workplace psychosocial risks....

Student success operations: financial aid responsiveness

April 28, 2026

Northeastern University is reportedly behind in responding to student appeals for financial aid, with students facing a May 1 response deadline. The update highlights how administrative timing and...

Federal higher-education data reporting halts spread after court actions

April 28, 2026

A federal court blocked the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing a new, expanded race-and-sex data survey deadline for members of multiple higher-ed associations and private nonprofit...

NSF governance reset after White House terminates entire National Science Board

April 28, 2026

The White House terminated all members of the National Science Board, leaving the agency without a board, director, or deputy director. The change, reported by Nature and confirmed via...

Major facilities maintenance gap pushes ‘right-sizing’ across campuses

April 28, 2026

Deferred maintenance across higher education has reached a record high, with average facilities backlog rising to $156 per gross square foot—nearly double the $80 level reported in 2007—according...