Get the Daily Brief

All action, no filler. hied.news delivers the industry’s 10 must-know updates, every morning.

Latest Higher Education News

Accreditation under fire: Federal panel realigns as officials promise fixes

December 17, 2025

Federal oversight of accreditation took center stage as the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) convened under a reorganized, partisan seating plan and...

Alabama faculty appeal to block anti‑DEI law – court fight reaches 11th Circuit

December 17, 2025

Faculty and students at Alabama public colleges appealed a federal judge’s denial of an injunction against the state’s 2024 law that bars public institutions from sponsoring DEI offices, trainings...

Immigration enforcement on campuses: Arrests spark fear; educators split

December 17, 2025

Reports of ICE arrests near schools and campuses have intensified fear among students, families and educators, according to reporting and national surveys this year. EdWeek surveys documented how...

AI in classrooms... curriculum shifts toward literacy and workplace readiness

December 17, 2025

Classrooms are shifting from policing AI use to teaching students to work with generative tools, education specialists said, and higher education must mirror that shift to prepare graduates for...

Campus violence spikes: Brown shooting and MIT professor killing raise safety alarms

December 17, 2025

Two violent incidents this week—an active shooter attack at Brown University and the fatal shooting of an MIT professor at his Brookline home—have compounded concerns about campus and researcher...

Built around students: Colleges urged to redesign tech as cyberthreats rise

December 17, 2025

Cybersecurity and enterprise system design are converging on a single imperative: build technology around student needs while hardening incident response. Campus security experts recommended NIST...

Accreditation under overhaul: Trump appointees and education officials tighten oversight

December 17, 2025

The federal apparatus that vets colleges and universities has shifted toward more interventionist scrutiny. The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) meeting...

Brown manhunt widens: FBI posts reward as videos surface

December 17, 2025

Law enforcement intensified a nationwide manhunt after a mass shooting at Brown University left two students dead and several others wounded. The FBI and local police released short surveillance...

Federal grant review alters: NSF shortens peer review; NIH flags proposal language

December 17, 2025

Two major federal research funders moved quickly to change grant review and oversight practices. The National Science Foundation issued guidance enabling program officers to rely on fewer outside...

Visa and travel squeeze: states sue H‑1B fee while U.S. expands country restrictions

December 17, 2025

Legal and policy moves this week underscore new immigration pressures for colleges and employers. Twenty state attorneys general filed suit to overturn the administration’s $100,000 fee on new...

Erasmus deal done: UK to rejoin EU exchange in 2027 — funding and fee terms set

December 17, 2025

The UK and EU reached an agreement to restore the Erasmus+ student exchange program beginning in 2027, fulfilling a government pledge and reversing a post‑Brexit break with broad implications for...

State laws and campus speech collide: Alabama DEI ban appealed; Utah chief rebukes Weber State

December 17, 2025

Faculty and students at Alabama’s public colleges appealed to the 11th Circuit to block a state law that bars diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming, arguing the statute threatens...

AI literacy for graduates: campuses urged to teach practical AI skills and rethink assessment

December 17, 2025

Higher education must accelerate AI readiness for both students and staff, industry and campus leaders say. Employers increasingly expect graduates to arrive with AI competence; institutions are...

Budget shocks and broken systems: universities cut jobs, boards rethink operations

December 17, 2025

Financial pressure forced DePaul University to eliminate 114 staff positions—nearly 8% of its workforce—to plug a $12.6 million budget shortfall driven by an abrupt drop in international graduate...

Campus probes and reputations: Harvard investigates students over Summers video; UMD president cleared

December 17, 2025

Harvard launched an internal inquiry into students who recorded former university president Larry Summers discussing Jeffrey Epstein during class, with potential discipline for those who captured...

Student wellbeing reshapes campuses: alcohol abstinence rises as loneliness spikes in halls

December 17, 2025

New survey data from hundreds of institutions shows incoming students are shifting away from alcohol: reported abstinence in the first weeks on campus has doubled since 2016, with health and...

Accreditation panel reshaped – Trump appointees pick conservative chair

December 17, 2025

The federal advisory committee that vets college accreditors reconvened under a reorganized seating plan and selected a conservative education researcher as chair after a deadlocked vote. The...

Alabama professors, students appeal to block anti‑DEI law

December 17, 2025

Faculty and students from Alabama’s public colleges filed an appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to overturn a state law that bars public institutions from sponsoring DEI...

States sue to block $100,000 H‑1B fee – colleges warned staffing could suffer

December 17, 2025

A coalition of 20 state attorneys general, led by California and Massachusetts, filed suit in federal court seeking to vacate President Trump’s proclamation that implemented a $100,000 fee on new...

UK deal struck: £570m to rejoin Erasmus in 2027

December 17, 2025

The UK and EU reached an agreement for the UK to rejoin the EU’s Erasmus+ student‑mobility programme from 2027, with the government committing about £570 million to the scheme. The deal, framed as...