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Accreditation oversight panel flags issues but avoids rupture – NACIQI meeting yields incremental scrutiny
The first National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) meeting under the Trump administration surfaced partisan tension but stopped short of sweeping action. Panel...
Rising costs squeeze college budgets – Inflation and operating expenses add pressure on campuses
Colleges are confronting a cost shock as the Higher Education Price Index hit 3.6 percent in 2025, above prior expectations and outpacing recent decade averages. Institutions face volatile utility...
Colleges cut faculty and overhaul to survive – Christian Brothers, The New School among cases
Financial triage continued at several campuses as institutions cut faculty and restructure operations to address deficits and accreditation risks. Christian Brothers University announced plans to...
AAUP demands transparency after Palantir ties to Education Dept. portal – Faculty groups push back
The American Association of University Professors publicly pressed the Education Department for details after reporting identified Palantir’s involvement with foreignfundinghighered.gov, a portal...
Legal attacks and political oversight reshape academic freedom – Courts and states press institutions
Courts and state policymakers kept higher education under legal and political pressure in 2025. Federal rulings diverged—some upholding state limits on classroom content, others protecting...
AFT pushes back as Education Dept. backlog stalls loan relief processing – Borrowers wait
The American Federation of Teachers filed renewed court papers and public criticism after the Education Department reported a backlog exceeding 800,000 pending applications for income‑driven...
Manhunt ends at storage unit — White House freezes diversity visa
Law enforcement officials found Claudio Neves Valente dead in a New Hampshire storage facility, ending a multi-state manhunt after the Brown University lecture-hall shooting that killed two...
Courts and campus speech — Trump administration appeals Harvard ruling
Federal litigation over academic freedom and federal oversight intensified as the Justice Department said it will appeal a judge’s ruling favoring Harvard. The move comes amid a wave of state laws...
AAUP raises alarm: Palantir’s shadow over Education Department portal
The American Association of University Professors publicly demanded transparency after reports that Palantir — a contractor with military and ICE clients — was connected to the Department of...
AFT: Education Dept. backlog leaves borrowers waiting — 800,000 applications stalled
The American Federation of Teachers says the Department of Education has a backlog of more than 800,000 income-driven repayment (IDR) applications, and that loan forgiveness processing remains...
Workforce Pell rules agreed: short-term programs cleared for federal aid
Negotiators in the Department of Education’s rulemaking process reached consensus on regulatory guardrails for the new Workforce Pell Grant program. The package sets eligibility for short-term...
UNC to close six area-studies centers — $7 million savings sought
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill officials told faculty the university will shutter six area-studies centers in 2026 as part of targeted cost-saving measures to meet a multi-year plan...
Small Catholic college trims faculty again — Christian Brothers cuts 16 roles
Christian Brothers University announced it will eliminate 16 full-time faculty positions at the end of the spring semester as administrators continue a multi-year financial restructuring. The...
Faculty speech fights: tenure under pressure at Arkansas — Clemson cleans house
Two university governance flashpoints surfaced this week. At the University of Arkansas, administrators moved to remove a tenured professor, Shirin Saeidi, from directorship duties and pursue...
Finals and food pantries: colleges race to prevent student hunger over break
With finals and winter break approaching, colleges across the country are stepping up food-pantry operations and emergency aid as new data show nearly two in five students experience food...
Colleges keep falling: closures and survival plays reshape the sector
The sector closed at least 15 nonprofit institutions in 2025 as enrollment shortfalls and fiscal stress forced consolidations, program wind-downs and governance shakeups. At the same time, The New...
Education Dept. Consensus: Workforce Pell Rules Set
The U.S. Department of Education’s negotiated-rulemaking panel reached consensus on regulations to implement the new Workforce Pell Grant program, establishing which short-term, workforce-oriented...
Christian Brothers U. Cuts 16 Faculty – Probation Exit Doesn’t End Restructuring
Christian Brothers University announced plans to eliminate 16 full-time faculty positions at the end of the spring semester as it works to stabilize finances after a multi-year enrollment slide...
DOJ Appeals: Harvard Funding Ruling Draws New Legal Fight
The U.S. Department of Justice notified courts it will appeal a judge’s ruling in favor of Harvard in a dispute over federal funding, setting up a renewed legal test over the administration’s...
UK Rejoins Erasmus: Mid-tier universities expect an EU student rebound
The UK government confirmed a deal to rejoin the EU’s Erasmus+ student-exchange programme for the 2027–28 academic year and committed funding to participate, a move universities say could help...